


Lethal Lust

by Kylokrumbs



Category: Alternate Universe - Fandom, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren (Comics)
Genre: Anal, Assassin - Freeform, Ben Solo - Freeform, Blood, Cigarettes, Cigars, Death, Dom-kylo, Edging, F/M, Finger Fucking, Finger Sucking, Gore, Kylo Ren - Freeform, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Nightclub, Orgasm Denial, Porn, Public Sex, Rape/Non-con - Freeform, Rough Sex, Sex, Smut, Stripper, Sub-OC, Threesome, Toys, Vicrul Ren - Freeform, Violence, booze, contract killer, daddy-kink, face fucking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:41:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 24
Words: 203,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25068592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kylokrumbs/pseuds/Kylokrumbs
Summary: For many people old habits die hard...𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾 𝚁𝙴𝙽 is no different.Being a contract killer had left his heart cold and calcified, that is until he meets his newest target...Warnings -* pørn with plot*blood*gore*LGBTQ+*mature language*mature themes*dom Kylo*sub mc*mental health issues*themes related to child abuse/rape/sexual assault*major character death*description heavy*mid to slow burn
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Original Female Character(s), Vicrul (Star Wars)/Original Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

Russia's frigid climate was the type Ren hated most. It was always too fucking cold, the wind was frozen bitter and it ravaged the skin of his cheeks and the tips of his too large ears. His unruly inky hair was swept into his face and he growled a curse when his vision was obstructed, almost, he'd almost lost sight of his charge. By a hairs breath he'd almost missed the man he was hired to terminate.

The same old, same old.

Someone who hasn't paid what was rightfully owed, a man swamped with debt and deals that he'd never be able to reimburse. Kylo saw his type all too often, hopping from one loan shark to the next while he gambled and misspent his borrowed cash, honestly, he didn't feel at all guilty.

He never felt guilty. He'd disassociated with that soft weakened part of himself too many years ago to count back, he didn't remember the last time he held any sentiment or emotion towards anything.

He didn't hold fond memories of childhood pets or remember the soft touch of his mother's hand.

He didn't want to. Didn't need to.

This particular client had very specific requests, his charge needed to be taken care of overseas. He had to be lured away from his home soil and slaughtered like an exotic meat, he didn't deserve to be sent back to his loved ones in a graded body bag.

Whatever was left of him would be scattered and the rest fed to the street dogs, not only had he not paid substantial masses of money he owed to some of the biggest crime bosses in the big apple, he also skipped a charge on assault and battery of his little darling trophy wife.

Petite blonde leggy girl with a broken nose and shattered eye socket, scared for the life of her children that slept only two rooms over.

Now that information had Kylo's blood boiling and simmering over in his taught veins, any low life that feasted on somebody weaker then themselves without a fair match was a waste of skin.

A waste of oxygen and human anatomy.

Kylo would take great pleasure in cutting this particular individual's Russian ventures short, he still couldn't believe the damn idiot fell into such a lousy trap.

The calculated killer didn't bother wasting much time with the usual believable backstories and substantial alibis.

This would be a get in get out job.

He wouldn't overstay his welcome in grizzly territory, he knew better then to meddle overseas.

A fog of water vapour condensed and carried a mist that spread over his chiseled features, brushing past his prominent nose and greying his burning-cinder irises. His flint gaze was sharp and his angled jaw was set, he was sat outside a traditional little cafe on a quiet street, it's atmosphere was a dull hum in Kylo's ear as he bought his cup to his plump lips, his teeth ached with the strong body and scolding heat of his black roast. Just how he liked it.

His stare didn't waver as he sipped his brew, casting his eyes to his peripherals as he watched the intended come into view across the cobbled street.

He was alone, good. Not that it would inconvenience the hitman in anyway shape or form.

Nicholas Milburn was an oily weasel of a man, slippery as an eel and about as cunning as a box turtle. He was just pushing 5"8 at a stretch but his body mass index was akin to that of a lanky teenage boy, cheap suit hanging loose off his slender frame and dwarfing his limbs. He had slicked back salt and pepper hair that was crisp to touch from the cheap gel product he used for it, his features were scrunched-sour and his heavy drug and alcohol abuse had aged the man significantly.

Kylo's eyes followed him as he walked. Watched as he walked straight towards him, charred amber eyes meeting dead muddy brown. Like a predator observing it's prey as it inched closer and closer, unknowing of the true danger he was literally walking himself into.

"Ronnie Webster?"

The dark haired man had to fight back his curling smirk, setting down his drained cup and shifting to stand. His hulking broad frame towered over the greasy criminal and Kylo's pulse jumped when he saw the man recoil slightly, the sheer width of the hitman's shoulders would rival double that of any substantial average man. He was a sight to behold, built like a Greek god with sculpted muscles and angled facial features.

His entire appearance and demeanour screamed danger, imminent danger that coiled and squirmed at the surface of his being, just waiting to strike.

Kylo was clad in his black on black suit; onyx button down dress shirt unclasped at his collar bone, charcoal suit jacket layered on top that he paired with his dark dress pants and black leather Oxfords. His thick silver Breitling watch sat chunky on his wrist as his dark pea coat sleeve rode up to expose it, letting it catch the streaking Russian sun as he moved to shake Nicholas's hand, clasping it firmly as he spoke.

"Nicholas I can only assume?"

Kylo's dark grainy voice pierced the air as he had to physically look down on the scum stood before him.

"Nice to finally meet you. How about we take a walk?"

Nicholas wiggled one of his faded brows and a shit-eating smirk tugged at his thinning lips.

"Lead the way."

The hitman unclasped his large hand from the slender clammy digits they were clamped in, using said free hand to gesture to the winding cobbled street in front of him, signalling for his target to take the lead first.

He smugly did so, turning his shoulders away from Kylo and starting off down the road.

The raven haired male begrudgingly followed quietly, willing himself to bide his precious time, the last thing he needed was for anyone to catch onto his game or catch a glimpse of what he was about to do.

Witnesses were too much hassle.

The two men trudged through the onslaught of bitter wind and walked in secluded silence for some time, keeping a respectable distance from each other as they came to reach their destination.

Nicholas dipped into the shadowed alley way first off, letting Kylo scan the surrounding perimeter with his cinder-burnt hues, the streets were quiet and cold. The impending winter climate of Moscow was bittersweet against the killer's skin, it made the icy blood in his veins pump that much harder, slithers of adrenaline adding fire to the cold torrents slashing around in his capillaries.

He followed his target into the back entrance of a Rouge club, the alley was lined with dumpsters and bins, old crates that delivered various necessities and cigarettes butts littered the damp concrete floor.

"So did you bring me what I-ugh!"

The low life moved to turn and face kylo but he was met with the sharpened blade of a knife lodging deep into his abdomen, he let out a strained grunt through clenched teeth as his clammy thin hands clambered and struggled to clutch at Kylo's suit sleeves.

The hitman twisted his wrist with a harsh yank and buried the knife deeper, blood gushed and gurgled from the wound and onto his fist, staining his alabaster skin and knife crimson red.

Kylo used his elbow as leverage to press the man upto the brick wall by his chest, pushing the point of his arm harshly into the man's sternum. He heard a loud crack resonate through his ear drums and Nicholas wailed, struggling for breath as his lungs were pressured with shattered shards ofbone.

Blood bubbled over his chapped-thin lips as he strained to speak, attempting to curse his attacker and damn him to hell.

The contracted killer let a dark laugh vibrate through his wide chest, scolding amber eyes burning into the fading cloggy brown ones in his sights.

"You've been given too. Many. Chances."

Kylo punctuated his words with more twists and turns of his thick bladed knife, clenching his teeth hard as he watched the greasy excuse of a man struggle and writhe in his strong grip.

More blackening crimson seeped onto his hand and upto his wrists, with one last hard plunge of the knife he retreated it. Ichor spilled down the man's front and stained the floor, flooding his crumbled white cotton shirt and cheap suit pants.

Kylo dropped his hold on the man and his body slumped to the floor, spine and vertebra scraping harshly against the coarse brick wall, he thudded to the ground and his breathing took an even shallower turn. Weaving and spluttering on his own blood and acidic bile as his stomach threatened to empty itself on the gritty floor, big strong knees bent in-front of him and suddenly the tall brooding killer was inches away from his face again, crouching in his view.

"As much as I want to get out the fuck out of thisshitty place I want to have my fun with you, beat you ten times as hard as you beat your little wifey."

Kylo licked across his cuspids and wet his lips after he'd spoken, his eyes narrowed when the bastard had the audacity to try and speak. He wouldn't have that, he bought his hands back up with his knife clasped tightly in his right paw, taking a chunk of the man's suit sleeve and cutting the knife through it.

Nicholas had lost too much blood at this point, he could barely register his surroundings or what was happening to him, his body felt numb but he could feel the slowing ooze of something warm from his stomach. The fabric of his suit shrieked as Kylo tore through it, balling up the severed material in his fist and shoving it into the greasy woman beaters mouth.

The killer wasn't convinced he didn't knock a few crooked yellow teeth into his throat as he did, he didn't care.

More blood and spit seeped and breached the corners of Nicholas' mouth as he cried and groaned, delirious from the blood loss and in an ungodly amount of pain.

Kylo's fist recoiled and struck the man across the jaw, he was wrenched up by his shirt collar and hit again; and again and again. His eyes were swollen and his nose was bent horribly out of shape, busted bloody lip and a gash to his cheek caused by one of Kylo's thick banded rings.

His body slumped to the floor again when his collar was dropped, jagged knife glinting in the sun when it came back out to play. Kylo crushed one of the man's wrists in his palm and held it steady, Nicholas' back hovered off the wall as he was tugged up by his arm, hanging limp in Kylo's immense grip.

"Hold still for me now jackass, I don't want too much blood on this suit."

He drawled. Voice brimming with intended malice.

A piercing shriek was muffled by the fabric stuffed in his mouth when Kylo's knife dug into and severed one of Nicholas' fingers, carbon steel scraping bone and knuckle as his blade skimmed through it like butter. More blood splattered the floor and Kylo could see the man's eyes fading and dropping, his muddy brown eyes snapped back open when the hitman pressed all of his weight onto one of his ankles, causing it to splinter and snap under his mass.

Another series of painfully gargled screams were lost against the suit material in his mouth when he was relieved of another finger, and then another.

Kylo's grin was haunting when he plunged his knife into the joint of Nicholas' wrist, sawing and jarring at the skin and bone as the man squirmed and tried to clamber away.

A severed hand and several fingers dropped to the wet puddled floor with a faded thud, a crack of thunder erupted over head and Kylo cast his eyes to the sky for a second, taking in the black rolling clouds and letting the on-coming spittle of rain settle on his cheeks. He let out a deep meditated breath.

His toffee eyes snapped back to his target when he heard him shift against the grainy brick, the geezer was still fucking alive.

Kylo didn't know wether to be impressed or pissed off, not many of his victims lasted this long.

He wasn't far off and Kylo knew that, blood was pouring out of every wound and his legs were twisted-broken.

He crouched down again and with one last sharp swoop of his knife he plunged it into the man's throat, cutting deep and slicing sideways, it was a clean cut that exposed his now gurgling larynx.

Another few short seconds ticked by and he was gone, dead and cold to the world he had mistreated and cheated over and over again.

Good riddance he thought.

Kylo stuffed his hand into his pocket and bought out a hanker chief, a shade of deep dark crimson red, he wiped it over the expanse of his knife first and then used the velvety material to clean his hands and knuckles of the soiling liquid.

When he was finished he retracted his phone from his pea coat pocket, setting on the flash and took a picture of the grim scene at his feet, not wasting any time before he sent it over to his client.

Another job finished.

He set a cigarette alight and took a long heavy drag of it as he exited the alleyway, not taking a second look at the dead man behind him. He set a languid stride as he set off down the cobble road and back to his hotel for the night, he'd be back on his home soil first thing tomorrow morning.

He couldn't wait.

...

"Danny?"

A soft voice called out.

"Yeh?"

"Visitor."

"On my way Paige!"

She chimed.

Danny was a fairly chirpy young girl, pretty sea green eyes and ashy blonde hair that almost shone silver in the light, she was twenty-three years young and had just finished the last year of her bachelors degree in art history.

She had plain pretty features with lips that were pert plump and her rounded cheekbones were littered with pale freckles, her turned up nose sat just right and her smile was pearly and kind.

When she'd first moved to New York for university she never thought her life would lead her this way, money was tight with increasing student finances and her school schedule made it a struggle for her to manage her 3 part time jobs.

Until her good friend Paige approached her one day, with a cheeky glimmer in her eyes and a wide smile. Danny knew something fishy was at hand, Paige was the type of friend to act before thinking, she was a loose cannon that provided everyone around her with fits of laughs and wide gleaming smiles.

She told Danny about a job going at her place of work, it was easy money and she earned triple the amount Danny did from less hours.

The emerald eyed art student jumped at the chance, until she remembered exactly what Paige's line of work involved, she was an exotic dancer...

Alas here she was. A year later and still serving tables and giving dance teases to anyone that paid her handsomely enough, she wasn't a prostitute, she would never give herself away for money. This was a temporary set up while she paid off her debts, the money was too good and the work was too easy to pass up the chance.

She had her gentle regulars that she tended to and it made the rough drunken hands of groping idiots that were few and far between manageable.

She always let Paige or one of the older girls dance for and serve the rowdy types, although she could manage them they still unnerved her, sent chills up her bare spine when they drank her body in a little too in detail for her liking. 

She enjoyed the quieter men that had a few years on her, they were far less rude and degrading, in some bizarre way they humanised her, to them she wasn't just a piece of meat going for auction.

She still had an hour or so before she was due to start work, she was dressed in a pair of faded black leggings and a cropped tee as she rounded the corner of the bar to find the location of Paige's voice, her vans squeaked against the floor as she made her way around the bar and to the front of the club.

The lights were still on and it wasn't yet set in a dim atmosphere for the lust baring evening ahead, it looked so contradicting in the daylight then at night, it almost felt too bright.

"There's my girl."

His deep seductive voice lightened when he saw her.

Danny fidgeted under his gaze as she inched closer to him, he was sat on a stool at one of the high set tables with Paige perched across from him eating her salad.

"Nice to see you too Jake."

She quipped.

She was right beside him now and she didn't anticipate the feeling of his fingers dancing up to find the small of her back and resting there, she wanted so badly to rip his arm right off and beat him with it but she held her fists and her tongue.

"You working all night tonight?"

He asked with a dip in his yellow-blonde brow.

"As I do every Friday your majesty."

She challenged. She cast a glaze to her friend across the table and was met with raised brows and an irked mouth, silently telling her to shut her trap.

"Fiery as always huh Dan?"

He smirked, pressing his fingers into the skin of her back slightly.

She stayed quiet at that, she'd learnt on few occasions that Jake wasn't the type of guy to meddle too hard with, like playing with a match, if she wasn't too careful she'd get burnt. He was the son of the club's owner, typical golden boy with too much of his daddy's money then he knew what to do with. If he wasn't throwing his cash at his own girls then he was across town in a rival club, checking out the competition is the way he'd explained it.

"What brings you over today anyway?"

Paige piped up between crunchy bites of her dressing drowned meal.

"I came to check on my favourite girls of course."

He attempted to prove his point when he coiled his arm around Danny's waist, reeling her in against his thigh so she was almost sat in his lap.

She rebalanced herself but didn't try to pull away from him.

"How kind of you."

Danny commented. Hoping at least a tiny ounce of her dripping sarcasm was picked up by either of the pair at the table.

"Wouldn't be a very good manager if I didn't keep my girls happy now, would I?"

The girls simply feigned short giggles in response, knowing better then to re-engage or continue with the fruitless conversation.

Tonight was going to be a long night.


	2. 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝚆𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚂𝙼𝙾𝙺𝙴

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Something strong if it's not too much trouble kitten."   
> He growled, bringing his fingers to brush the backs of her thighs as he spoke.   
> She jolted from his touch but didn't move away, she couldn't, she was trapped in those steel glass eyes of his.

The thickening air was tainted and warm, the smell of cheap booze and even cheaper cologne was steeping the oxygen entering Danny's already tired lungs. Just think of the money she found she kept repeating to herself over and over again in her head, this was all to pay off university. Then she'd never have to set foot in a place like this again, she'd move on and burn this chapter from her life. Stomp it into the ground and pretend none of this ever existed.

She looked into the mirror she was sat idly in front of, taking in her appearance and wanting to gag.

Clogged makeup caked onto her face and a multitude of products keeping her curled waves in place, it seemed she never got used to seeing herself in this light. Too much skin showing and too much confidence in doing so, she had never been this brave in her earlier youth and to this day she was still surprised she ever made the audition.

Of course it was a case of show me your tits and shake your ass but still, no one had yet caught onto her act.

Paige loved to dance. She loved her body and she was proud of the beautiful olive skin she wore, she had no qualms about showing a little too much of that skin to anyone for an extra buck here and there. Paige's job was her passion and it fuelled a fire in her belly every time she set foot through those doors, she might have been in the same financial bounds clamped around Danny but from the outside looking in anyone would have thought this was Paige's career. No one would ever guess she was a graduate with a degree in journalism, slunk deep down in the depths of a red lit dance club.

Danny always hated the wait, the apprehension when it came to going out on that stage or work the bar, those hungry eyes would watch and study her every move, like watching a frail gazelle drink from gator infested waters. Soon enough. They'd snap.

She liked wearing darker colours. Wether it was black or a very deep blue, sometimes she even wore an incredibly delicious crimson red.

Darker then the deepest red wine.

The other girls loved to stand out with sparkles, feathers and anything and everything that glittered. Bright pinks and obscene greens, they didn't have any objections when it came to sharing either. They'd trade and share like they were exchanging Barbie dolls in a playground. The other girls had tried on too many occasions to include Danny in their little games and challenges.

They'd make bets on who could make the most that night or which regular would tip the best, they'd compete with one another to see who got the attention of the most handsome guy in house or see who could go the longest without being collared for a private dance. 

Don't even get Danny started when it comes to guessing cock sizes around these girls, it was slowly becoming an obsession amongst the gaggle of young women.

She loved these girls, she really did. But that didn't mean she felt at home with them, they were all too comfortable with their situation for Danny's liking. All her life she'd never felt at ease in her own skin, at least not as much as she should. She remembers the boys teasing her in high school for her freckles and always pointing out how her thighs were a little plumper then the other blooming teens in her grade.

Those same boys that once teased her were the same ones coming to the clubs behind their girlfriend's backs, they'd most likely never recognised her or ever dared to mention it but she knew who they were and she relished in that fact that she could make them come undone in their seats. Sitting on their hands to make sure they never so much as reached forward for the lightest of touches, she loved that those same boys from high school that dismissed her were the men sat gaping before her now.

They wanted her but couldn't have her.

Despite growing up on the very outskirts of New York it seemed others had followed the same path she did. Almost. They'd flocked to the inner city for college or university or simply to enter the working corporate world, no matter how hard she tried to pry herself away from her muddy roots she was stuck, rooted to the very thing she wanted to run away from. 

"Ready?"

A gravely voice rumbled.

Danny turned her shoulders to the source of the voice as she finished popping in her last hoop earring, mustering a smile as she gave him a curt nod.

George, the big burly security guard, nodded back.

Stout body not matching his bulked physic as his back turned and vanished behind the dark velvet curtain.

She turned back for one last look at herself and took a deep breath, calming her nerves and plastering a pearly smile on her face. She couldn't help but think Jake had been the cause of her souring mood, she didn't hate her job, it was bearable, just not when he made her feel like a filthy piece of shit.

Standing up and pulling down the underwire of her bra just a smidgen to avoid major under-tit, she turned and made off towards the curtain.

She wasn't as tall or as desirable as the other girls, she was barely pushing 5'6 without her platforms and she wasn't long in the torso with string bean legs, she was petite with plump thighs and an even plumper ass. She'd lost caught of how many times her girls had snuck a slap or two when she wasn't looking in the dressing room, they gawked and praised her for such a fine amenity.

She wouldn't say her tits were anything to write home about but they were there, "a good handful" were Paige's exact words when she'd demonstrated for herself just how grope worthy they were.

Anyone would have thought that Danny was self deprecating for the laugh of it, fishing for compliments among a sea of gorgeous girls she couldn't hold a candle too. That wasn't the case, she genuinely didn't see her appeal, that was all.

Danny was wearing black tonight, she was just in the mood for it, sparse black lace trimmings and all.

She was a garter girl, by gods nature she was.

They sat snug around her ample thighs and accentuated them to their finest ability, in her eyes it was more material to wear. But she couldn't lie and say that she didn't like them, she did think they looked good on her.

Ivory legs donned in nothing but the black platforms on her feet, her ashy blonde locks cascaded down her back and tickled at the bare expanse of it.

She pulled back the velvety curtain and stepped out, sultry motion in full use as she swung her hips and placed one foot in front of the other meticulously.

The whole perimeter of the club was dark and red, seduction and mystery twining into one to create an illusion. The bar stretched right across the left wall and had LED lights strung over every spare corner of it, illuminating the alcohol deposit against the dark auro of the rest of the room. There were three separate stages that looked more the catwalks of some sort, they were a short stretch along the room that led out into the main seating area and had a slightly wider platform at the end with a tall metal pole erupting from the black polycarbonate stage.

The girl from the stage Danny had just stepped onto was making her way towards the curtain, Roxy, an extremely well toned Hispanic girl. She was beautiful in all of her Cuban glory, gorgeous thick curled swirls of chocolate hair that were full and exotic.

She wore a deep violet bra and skimpy little booty shorts covered in glittered sequins.

She strode towards Danny and they both eyed each other with a smile as they passed one another.

She steadied her aching lungs and stalked down the length of the stage, the clacking of her heels was completely drowned out by the ear-numbing music and the gaggle of voices in the crowd.

Whoops and hollers crossed over the air in waves but she didn't pay it any mind, Danny kept focused on her task and made it to the end of the walk way. She dipped her hips and bent at the waist to give them a show, twirling on her heel and clasping her fingers around the ice cold metal pole. Hooking the back of her knee around the metal she let her ample body swing round it, nothing too fast but completely sensual, "fuck me eyes" darting across the expanse of the room as she tried to keep her lunch in her stomach.

Danny continued to dance for the remainder of her set, dollar bills and a credit card or two flung towards her bare frame as she worked. Filthy growls and low groans found her ears but she continued, the music was just shifting to change, signalling the next girls arrival.

With one final spin around the pole she let her knees hit the plastic lined floor, spreading them wide and giving the crowd of men a delicious view. She bought her hands up to skate across the flesh of her thighs and up her stomach, tracing up further to grope her own tits harshly while she bit her lip.

One particularly lucky soul was sat straight in her eye line and she gave him the filthiest smirk she could muster, tongue darting out to wet her lips and scrape across her pearly teeth.

A crisp unfolded $100 bill was deliberately hanging in her vision from the edge of the stage, the same man she'd taunted had leant all the way forward in his seat, mint green bill snug between two thick digits as he offered the money to her.

Her eyes lit up and she teetered forward on her knees, angling her spine and pushing out her chest as she did so. What she did next didn't just surprise the mystery man but it surprised her too, she craned her neck as she reached the lip of the stage and took the note between her teeth, retracting and standing oh so slowly in front of the gleaming eyes of the man before her.

Liquid courage coursed through her veins as she heard the music change, she swung her hips around and made her way back to the curtain. Dipping slightly just before it and disappearing behind it, her garters were stuffed full with dollar bills and so were her bra and underwear. Faded green notes spilling out of every thread that held them there while she danced and entertained, another pretty blonde passed her with a shy smile as they shifted between the velvet curtains.

Danny let out the clogged breath she didn't realise she was holding, shaky wobble in her knees as she crashed into the closet seat possible. She started to rid herself of her earnings and stuffed them into a little plastic bag she carried with her, made it all the more easier to take it to the bank to cash in, a thin layer of sweat dewed her brow and her make up had started to run over so slightly.

She was due to go out to serve the bar for the remainder of the night soon, she quickly hid her money in her bag and started to reapply the small amount of make up she had actually put on.

Her mind drifted back to the mystery man's eyes, a gorgeous sea foam blue catching the stage lights as their bodies were illuminated by the dull glow of red shrouding the room. His unruly ash blonde hair was clean and clearly conditioned, Danny had to avoid reaching out to run her fingers through the silk strands dangling in his vision as he watched her dance with hooded eyes. His beard was was short and well kept, the panty dropping smirk gracing his lips almost had Danny doing just that.

She also didn't miss the designer make of crisp button down shirt, a gorgeous pale blue that contrasted with his ocean hues. His whole outfit and demeanour was dripping with expensive taste, she could smell the lavish malt sat in a cylinder glass atop his table, the Italian leather of his shoes shone glossy under the dim light but his thick silver trimmed Breitling watch couldn't have glistened more even if she were to shine a torch to it.

He was the staple of a man. The sleeves of his shirt bulged beneath the vast muscle of his biceps, long sleeves rolled to his elbows to display inky artwork of tattoos that danced up his arms and beneath the cotton. Shirt buttons struggling to confine his strong chest as his breathing grew deeper when she arched her spine that fraction more towards him, thick thighs nestled beneath his crisp onyx suit trousers as he leant forward to balance his elbows on his knees and catch a better look at the delicate morsel before him. He was all wood and smoke.

"Fuck me Danny! What got into you girl?!"

Paige shrieked as her tall heels clacked against the dressing room floor.

The blonde craned her neck to look at her friend but was met with a face full of titty, Paige's plump appendages all but suffocating her as she was clamped in a bone crushing squeeze.

"What are you on about?"

She mumbled into her friends skin as she tried to claw her way free.

"That man! The note between your teeth, you had me fucking gushing bitch! He's hot as shit!"

She squealed as she released her friend. Pearly smile and bright gleaming eyes reflecting off the mirror behind Danny's head.

"He was easy on the eye, didn't tip half bad either."

She smiled at that. Maybe she'd go and offer him some drink specials to see how much cash the man could actually splash.

"Bitch you're playing this down. Get yourself back out there before he leaves Virgin Mary!"

Paige pinched her friend's cheek as she moved to sit down beside her and re-do the rose bud gloss slicked to her pert lips.

"Not all of us spread eagle for just about anyone."

Danny winked as she dodged a vile of mascara aimed her way.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm a taker not a giver!"

Danny didn't bother to stick around and listen to her friend cry wolf about all of her sexual indulgences. Another clear separation between her and the other girls seemed to be their sexual appetites, while the other girls splashed their earnings in nightclubs and got with any man they could fumble with quick enough; Danny was more reserved.

She wasn't an innocent nun by any stretch. That much was clear, she simply didn't venture out enough to meet anyone she found worthy of fucking, one rule she upheld from the very first day she started working was to never mix work with pleasure. Sex was different outside of the club doors but she'd never ever do anything with anyone for any vast amount of money, she was desperately in debt but she wasn't about to throw her morals out of the window.

The petite blonde bent down to fumble with the strap of her heel and stood back up just as the curtain shuncked open, the same girl that had passed Danny when she'd finished dancing was fleeting past her in tears. She knew that young girl was merely past the legal age and had just started work at the club a few weeks ago, she remembers how vulnerable she felt back then too.

Danny didn't have time to chase her and ask what the issue was, she needed to get to the bar, she heard a gaggle of girls behind her swoon and shush the girls sobs as she reached the chairs in the dressing room.

She'd find her at closing time and see if she was alright.

She stepped out from behind the velvet material curtain but didn't head out down the length of the stage, she dipped to her left and tiptoed down the handful of stairs onto the sleek marbled floors beneath her heels. They clicked as she walked and arrived at the head of the bar, whistling over the Guatemalan hunk of homosexuality serving bright cocktails and colourful shots to a gaggle of bachelors in the opposite end.

They locked eyes and the man smiled, finished serving and bounded over to where she stood leant over the bar with her elbows braced against it.

"preciosa niña! What do I owe the fine pleasure?"

He beamed.

"As much as I'd love to be off my own back I'm afraid it's business Dameron."

She chided, eyes scanning the perimeter of the bar to check for any customers.

"Isn't it always? What would you like to keep you going chica bonita?"

He asked as he moved a little further down the bar, thumbing the rows upon rows of alcohol lining the shelves behind him.

"50 shots of absinthe sound good?"

She quirked a brow. It genuinely sounded better then work at this point.

"Tequila it is."

He chimed as he moved to pour the shot, sliding it down the bar and right into her awaiting fingers with a meek "thank you".

She washed it back easily and moved behind the bar to discard of the soiled cup into the small glass steam washer hidden behind the wooden slab. 

"Right so what specials have we got on tonight?"

Danny asked with full curiosity as she spun to grab more ice.

"Classics tonight. Sex on the beach, martini, sidecar, old fashioned and blood Mary. The works."

Poe punctuated his last two words with the shittiest New York accent he could manage, moving off to serve a gentleman waiting patiently at the other end of the bar.

Danny laughed and shook her head, grabbing a circular tray and walking her way out into the crowd.

She tried not to linger between the men for two long as they tried to make small talk, she'd smile and giggle but wasn't at all interested it much they had to say. She grabbed empty glasses and replaced them with full ones, whiskeys and straight spirits were proving more popular then the classics tonight. Figures.

Her breath stilled when she came to a certain table.

Still sat in the same seat as before, steely sea blue eyes catching the dull lights as his neck craned in her direction. His eyes flickered from her feet to her head so quickly she'd have missed it if she blinked, but he definitely did it.

He was sat back in his seat and didn't bother inserting his ten pence in with his buddies chattering away and joking around him.

"Any more drinks for you gentlemen?"

She drawled. Leaning at a dangerous angle so her cleavage was on full display as she inched over to take the empty fog warm glasses.

"If it keeps you around sweetness then keep em' coming!"

One of them shouted across from two tables over, a slight spittle sliding from his lips as he did.

Clearly already drunk off his trolley.

"Famous last words if I ever heard them."

She joked dirtily, cleaning the last of the glasses and taking more specific drink requests.

She could feel those hard cut eyes on her back as she conversed with the men at his table, letting her eyeline slide to her peripherals she indeed caught a brooding stare aimed right towards her.

She took a deep breath and turned towards him, staking right up and close to him, her leg brushed against his spread knees that just how close she dared to get.

"Anything to drink tiger?"

She husked. She saw the flash of smirk tug at the perfect lips of his, he let his back retreat from his seat as he leant forward, hands dangling between his parted knees as he craned his neck up to meet her eye. His chin was a hairs breath away from brushing just shy of her sternum, he was still that tall simply sat down.

"Something strong if it's not too much trouble kitten."

He growled, bringing his fingers to brush the backs of her thighs as he spoke.

She jolted from his touch but didn't move away, she couldn't, she was trapped in those steel glass eyes of his.

She couldn't even manage words, a curt obedient nod and she skipped off back to the bar on wobbly jellied knees.

"Girl you look flushed! Are you okay?"

Poe had concern splashed across his features as he hurled him upper half over the tall bar and placed the back of his hand on her forehead.

She batted his hand away with a laugh and took another deep intake of air, calming the butterflies circling around her tummy.

The olive skinned babe took a fleeting glance behind the dancer and a wicked smile played at his lips, his hazel eyes landed on the gorgeous specimen staring at Danny's back. Both of the men's smirks deepened.

"Oh I see how it is."

He told as he twirled around to start making the drink Danny had just reeled off.

"Spit it out Dameron."

She scolded with a roll of her doey eyes.

"You have the hots for a customer. Bet you're shooting you self in the foot with that little rule of yours, huh?"

He wiggled his dark trimmed brows at her.

"Get your head out of the gutter!"

She grumbled as she began placing the drinks onto her circular tray steadily.

She turned a little too sharply in protest and some alcohol spilled over the lip of the glasses ever so slightly with her sharp body movement, she held her chin high and didn't take a second look at the giggling Guatemalan behind her.

She didn't meet the strangers eye this time around, she kept her gaze elsewhere as she walked towards him and his friends, she feared if she looked him dead in those steel sea blue eyes she'd crumble at the knee. Her body would turn to mush at the criminally handsome man's feet with just a flickering glance.

She approached their group of tables and was sure to leave his drink for last, a cocktail or two here and a dry gin and tonic there. His cylinder thumb of amber whiskey sloshed around the glass as she served out the other drinks, a cheeky smile gifted along with the beverages at hand.

His gaze didn't leave her body the entire time, she felt his eyes burn her body like sharp drops of acid piercing her skin.

She took a shallow breath of air before she turned her body to face him fully, drinking in his nonchalant body language and mannerisms, he was slunked back in the chair until she met his eyes. Mimicking the same stature he had taken before and leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

She timidly stepped into his space. Taking the glass on her tray between her fingers and offering it out to him directly, not avoiding clammy hands by placing orders on the table like she usually would.

His smirk crawled up his face like a venomous spider scurrying up a stone wall, exposing his pearly teeth and sharp smile. He reached for the glass with one hand and let their fingers intertwine around the glass, using his free hand to skate to the back of her bare searing thigh once again.

"Hands to yourself before I throw you out bitch boy!"

George's baritone voice rumbled the very floors as he barked out from his space leant against the wall, puffing his chest out in threat. Danny couldn't help but think it would be him thrown out the doors if the man sat in front of her wanted to start a confrontation, she felt his fingers grip her thigh like a vice when the security guards last words rang out.Fighting words he just have thought.

"I-it's okay! I'm fine."

She weakly carried back to him. Eyes daring to dart way from the mystery man's stoic face to convey her statement to George across the room. The stout security worker huffed in acknowledgement but kept a keen eye on the two of them, any funny business with one of the girls and he wouldn't hesitate to step in.

The muscled mystery man jutted his chin up slightly, stretching his neck and lightening his seat so his hot breath fanned her ear.

"Good girl."

His low growl danced across the shell of her ear, striking lightening up her spine and rippling goosebumps across her bare skin.

He disconnected their fingers from around his drink and downed the entirety of his malt whiskey, holding solid eye contact with her while he did so. He popped his lips from the glass with a content sigh and set the empty glass on the table, both hands now skimming up and down the backs of her plump thighs.

She squeaked in her throat when one large finger tugged at the strap of one of her garters letting it slap back against her skin, she squeezed her eyes and thighs shut when he did it but they snapped back open when she heard a chuckle vibrate through his throat.

"When do you get off work?"

He asked in a low rumble. Steel eyes glossy with the hum of alcohol trickling through his pumping veins.

Her mouth ran dry and her hands fell clammy, as gorgeous as he was she still didn't do that.

"Don't fret kitten, I'm not asking for those purposes. I just want a word."

He continued. Hard eyes softening slightly as he watched her throat bob as she swallowed down her fears.

"I get off at eleven."

She whispered. Any and all confidence she had on that stage now shrivelled to dust beneath her tall heeled feet.

"Till eleven then. I'll let you get back to work."

His hands fell lower and lower to the backs of her knees as he spoke, settling back to slouch in his chair and craning his neck up to keep her eye contact. She stayed rooted to her spot between his parted knees for a few more seconds but she broke her trance and scurried back to the bar, tray held tight between her fingers against her chest.

She had three more hours to go before she got off of work. The anticipation would suffocate her.

....

Eleven o'clock had rolled around at a snails pace, Danny took strained glances at the digital clock behind the bar and growled each time a few minutes had barely squeaked by. Her heel clad toe tapped as she waited, she tried to keep her eyes off of her mystery man and opted to only look when he wasn't. She failed miserably and every now and then their stares would clash, leaving her in a jumbled mess of crumbling confidence. He'd smirk dirtily each time and tag another glug of his whiskey neat, adding to the conversation his friends were having every now and then.

She bolted to the changing rooms as soon as her shift was over and got dressed quicker then a flash of lightening, the nights were still tacky warm with the ooze of summer. On her later shifts the chill of the rising morning would nip at her skin but it made her feel that much more awake, night shifts were often a god send, Danny loved nothing more then watching the rising violet-peach sky paint streams across the New York sky line.

She fixed the straps of her frill trimmed plaid bustier dress and pulled on her van pumps, throwing her arms through her denim jacket and grappling with her black pin buckle crossover bag.

She'd already stripped her face of any cakey make up and brushed through her curled locks, she probably looked mortifying but she didn't care that much, her curiosity was killing her.

The girls worked right through to the early hours of the morning, especially on weekends, Danny happened to be on a shorter shift tonight after swapping with Roxy last week.

She was grateful of it now. She couldn't have handled the anticipation anymore then she already had.

She stepped out onto the club floor and immediately located the steel blue eyes of the man in question, sat comfortably at the bar making idle chit chat with the olive skinned Spanish tongued bartender.

Both men smile in their own unique ways when they saw her appear from around the corner, Poe made an executive decision and insisted he had to check the supply in the cellars.

Leaving her all alone with the tall brooding blonde sat meters away.

With a curt nod of his head he urged her forward. Daring her to come into his space again, egging her on to test the waters of his self restraint.

She obliged. Pumps on her feet scuffing the vinyl textured floor, she came closer and perched her ass on the stool next to his. He'd already ordered her a drink anticipating her arrival, ice beginning to melt in the sour cherry tequila drink he'd ordered for her.

Not bad she thought.

"I suppose you're wondering why I asked to speak to you."

He spoke up. Voice foggy from the slight of alcohol. He wasn't drunk or even tipsy. A man of his size would take gallons to get him swaying on his feet, it seemed the malt had just stilled his senses ever so slightly.

Maybe even signs of fatigue biting at his nerves.

"Understatement if I ever heard one."

She quipped. Keeping it short and simple for his tired brain to stay on track with. Sipping a mouthful of the sour twist of juicy cherry that sated her tongue.

"I won't keep you long kitten. I have an old friend who's birthday is next week, he's been out of town for a few months."

She didn't know if she liked where this going as she continued to sip her beverage.

"He's due home the day after his birthday and I'd like to get him something he'll remember."

He drawled. Eyes drinking in her short dress as if he hadn't already seen her partially naked for the entirety of the evening.

"I'm not sure I'm following Mr..."

She rambled. Leaving the end of her sentence for him to fill in the blanks.

"Vic will be sufficient."

He answered. She couldn't help but found his name suited him, the faint twang of his European roots laced his voice and sent her stomach into flutters.

"If I'm as to be so bold, Vic, if you're asking me to do what I think you are then I'm afraid I can't help you. Or your friend."

She gifted curtly. Getting her point across and making it clear she wouldn't be swayed.

"How does ten grand sound to you?"

He asked stiffly. Idly swirling another thumb cylinder of whisky between his beefy fingers and chugging it back without catching the sting.

Ten thousand dollars. Ten thousand dollars.

That would pay off her debt. That would get her started for a career as her own boss, she could fix for a deposit on the studio available that sat a few blocks down the street from her apartment. She'd be free.

She could leave this chapter of her life behind and finally reach out her delicate talented hands to grasp onto the clear future that had been too tauntingly close for too long.

But at what cost?


	3. 𝙿𝙾𝚁𝙲𝙴𝙻𝙰𝙸𝙽 𝙸𝚅𝙾𝚁𝚈 𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙻

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Happy womb evacuation day John Wick."

Just shy of a week passed Danny by in the blink of an eye.

She hadn't confirmed nor denied Vic's request, he saw the glossed over hesitation in her eyes that night. He could see her fighting with her own moral compass, torn between what was right and what was easy, he knew that money would be upmost beneficial to her. Vicrul knew the types of girls that worked this trade, most of them were there from their own misfortunes. Didn't get so much as a worthy passing grade from school or college and found themselves in a pinch for cash, turning to their only reliable source for a steady solid income.

Their bodies.

He could see Danny was different. She held herself differently, carried herself in a way that made her stick out from the crowd like a sore thumb.

She didn't conform to the industry standards.

She was plainer and prettier, didn't cake herself in layers of unnecessary make up to hide her true identity from skinning eyes, she didn't sell herself in a way that made her into the very thing she loathed the most.

She was calculated and clever in the way she worked, he'd observed her enough. It wasn't his first visit to the club the night he approached her, she'd caught his keen eye on a few occasions, she was minimal and rightly so.

She didn't need sparking glitter and frayed feathers to make her stand out, her calming aura and sparkling sea green eyes meant the other stick

thin girls plastered in fake lashes and layers of cheap make up she worked amongst couldn't hold a candle to her natural appeal.

She never gave him an answer. He simply polished off another slug of whiskey and plucked a neat fold of matte grey from his pocket, a sleek thick card with neat block writing. No more information then just his name and number, casting an even bigger shadow of mystery onto the man that didn't give her so much as a devilish smirk to go off of.

No business links or any other inkling into what he did. Just his most basic information slid across the polished wood bar with two thick digits, landing just shy of her glass that her delicate fingers were gripping incredibly hard to without her own knowledge. Her eyes flickered between the sleek card and the steely eyes searching for her gaze, she wet her lips to speak but he immediately put his hand up to silence her words.

"Think about it."

He whispered with a thick husk when he moved to a stand, one index finger tapping the card one last time as he stacked some folded bills on top of the bar to leave as tips for the charming Guatemalan that had served him and the lovely lady stealing his attention for the evening. He bid the silent girl a hushed goodnight and made his way through the doors and into the spilling warmth of the night, it's cooling temperature licking up Danny's legs when the door finally closed behind his towered built frame.

She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. Gingerly taking the card between shaky fingers and stroking the embossed gloss of the words and numbers stamped into the thick matte finish of it, she read his name over and over again. Burning it into the fabric of her memory and trying to stir through anything that would lead her to the man's true identity.

Vicrul Ren...

She'd never heard of him. He wasn't some high flying city boy with daddy's cash to splash, he was wealthy and strong. Something awoke in Danny's stomach, his aura was something she'd never felt before, a dangerous edge to his playful tongue and sharp eye. Something dark, sinister and unsettling.

She couldn't exactly pin point the source of the feeling or gain any rationality from it but it was there, deep in the pit of her stomach and nagging her mind to never let it be forgotten. Almost like it was warning her, telling her this dangerous man would chew her up and spit her out.

In every sense of the word.

Then she remembered the money. Ten grand could finally see her out of this rut she was stuck in, she could move on and wash her hands of this filthy work place that made her feel dirtier then any soil or grime ever could.

She could finally put that degree of hers to use, finally move onto what she was really in the city for.

No more secrets and no more hiding.

The days passed by her in a dim red flash, she took extra shifts to fill her wandering brain but even then she still found the hours running away from her.

Thursday night rolled around sooner then she had anticipated, that small little piece of card had been sat taunting her for days. The looming jumble of his phone number hanging over her like a dark thundering rain cloud, striking her anytime she would let her eyes wander over to it.

Tonight was a rare night off, alone in her little apartment passing the time with idle sketching and drowning mug after mug of sweet fruit tea.

She was able to hear herself think, hear herself breath. If only rare it was still a comfort, she could forget her current predicament and focus on channeling her emotions and feelings into something worth while. Her artwork kept her sane and happy, reminded her exactly what she was doing this for.

She rubbed her soiled oil pastel slick fingers on an old rag and stood up off her knees where she'd been resting on the laminated wooden floor of her living room, plucking her empty mug from the coffee table; stepping through and into her humble kitchen.

She boiled the water and set another forest fruit tea bag into her mug, letting the leaves and herbs soak for a few minutes to better improve their dull autumn flavours.

She folded her arms over her chest and turned her body to face her living room again, resting the small of her back against the counter top to glance over the shrinking expanse of her apartment.

Her walls and floors were littered with so many canvases and sketch books, trays and pots of oil paints, drawers stuffed too full with palette knives and brushes of all varying shapes and sizes, stray water colour stains on her wool rug and portfolios stacked high on her coffee table.

She loved her humble little abode.

Loved filling it with everything dear to her heart, the familiar feeling of home and warm clutter that kept her on her feet. Made sure living miles away from home and leaving all familiarity at the edge of the city didn't end up too suffocating.

The sun was just setting through the tangle of the concrete jungle nestled beyond Danny's open window, wind steadily blowing through her sheer magnolia curtains and carrying the scents of the city into her home with it. She could smell the hum of fresh pastries from the bakery just a few blocks over and the musk of the crisp green leaves carrying on the horizon, the faint hint of chemical smog from the cities fumes and the smell of cheap petrol was bought along with it. Unpleasant yet still reminding her of nothing but the bustling streets of New York City surrounding her.

The filtering light caught the glossy sheet of matte grey, glinting in her eye and drawing her attention to it once again.

She stepped over to it and took it between her fingers, handling it as if it would combust in her hands. She still hadn't made her mind up, despite her torn mind she figured it might help shedding more light on the situation.

Maybe find out exactly what Vicrul had in mind for his friends special day.

She sighed and abandoned her steeping tea, dragging her tired feet over to the couch and fetching her phone from it. Anticipation clawed at her throat as she dialled his number, the pad of her thumb hovering over the call button as she reconsidered everything she'd just thought she could accomplish. She bit the bullet and pressed the cursed green button, swallowed breath catching in her throat as she waited for him to answer.

She held the device to her ear and bit the nail of her thumb between her teeth, nervous habit surfacing with her growing anxieties.

"Kitten."

His voice was smooth and deep, husky tone almost causing Danny's knees to buckle.

"How did you know it was me?"

Her voice chirped, not sounding at all as confident as she wanted it to.

"I assume you have an answer for me?"

His German tongue licked at his larynx, that hint of an accent clinging around the sharp edges of his words as he dodged her question and jumped straight to the point.

She swallowed. Idly tugging and twirling a strand of her hair between her fingers as she pondered her choices.

"I was wandering. If maybe, you could tell me exactly what you have in mind for me? It wouldn't be wise of me to accept a task I'm not capable of completing."

She seemed to be gaining momentum now, voice wavering less and sounding sturdier then it had done before.

Vicrul chuckled on the end of the line.

He found it more then mind numbingly cute that she was trying to take this so seriously and with such conviction, sending his innocence kink skyrocketing and cashing a throbbing pulse in his veins. She used big words and gave him the full industry standard of service.

She couldn't understand what was so funny. She was trying to offer her help and yet he wasn't taking her seriously, part of her wanted to slam her phone down and rip his little card to shreds.

"Oh sweetheart, trust me. You're more then capable of this particular task."

He drawled. She could practically hear his smile tug at those plump lips of his.

"How can you be so sure?"

She queried.

"I've seen where you work. It's pensive and unrewarding, you deserve something more then giving lap dances in a dingy red light club.

I'm offering you more money for just one night of your life than you've made in your entire time back there. Look at the bigger picture sweetheart, it'll be worth it in the end."

He gifted. Tone laced with all seriousness.

She lost herself in thought. She wasn't stupid, she knew exactly what he was asking for. She knew it that night back at the club. She wasn't just going to give a little private dance; be handed the cash and slip off in the dead of night. This was a case of selling something more then just her body to be gawped at, she'd be selling her everything to a man she's never met. Without his own knowledge.

A clash of sickly sweet something stirred in her guts, a sense of dread accompanied but something much more desirable. The thought of fucking a stranger didn't just stir feelings of fear but something dark and sinister that Danny didn't quite know how to unleash just yet. But she so wanted to. Desperately.

She tried to convince herself this would be no different then going out with the girls and picking up a stranger after a few too many shots of tequila and vodka mixers. She'd fumble between the sheets with no strings attached and walk away with ten grand in her pocket, it was easy to be cocky and confident on the end of a phone but she couldn't back out if she agreed. That same sense of danger she'd felt radiate off Vic was still there, looming overhead and reminding her that he was not a man to be messed with. 

"What happens if I agree?"

She asked curtly. Genuine curiosity seeping into her sex starved pores and leaking with more rough-edged excitement then she would ever care to admit.

"I give you an address and a set of rules to follow. Nothing more. Nothing less."

He growled lowly. That same warning tone lacing his vocal bands with every notion that his threats weren't empty.

"What if I'm not good with rules?"

She quipped. Exciting herself a little too much just with the sinister prospect of this whole ordeal.

He chuckled darkly in response, she could hear his big body shift over the phone as the crisp cotton shirt he was no doubt wearing folded to accommodate his muscled frame.

"Don't bite off more then you can chew. Kitten."

He husked. Breath catching in his throat as he chuckled lowly again.

"I'll send over the details now then. Your change in tune is showing me you've clearly come to a solid conclusion."

His words almost sounded questioning, they both knew they weren't. He was correct in thinking so, she wouldn't feed into this game if she wasn't playing.

"I have. I'll do it."

She told him calmly. Settling her pit of nerves and burying them deep deep down.

The call was silent for a moment. Danny held her breath and swallowed it down into her oesophagus.

"Good girl."

...

Kylo's mood was nothing shy of sour.

Cinder-burnt eyes twitching, fists and fingers flexing to release the tension coiling tightly around his tendons and ligaments, angled jaw set in place like like a slab of ivory marble stone.

Two delayed flights and a mind-achingly long security check had left him drained and stripped of any slither of patience he still owned, one long lingering glance from a pig faced airport security guard had Kylo's teeth clenching so tightly he started to think he would shatter them.

He was finally sent on his way but that didn't ease rupturing tension in his dense muscles. He needed sleep, he needed one of his stupidly expensive Nicaraguan cigars, he needed a thumb of his favourite bourbon and most of all he needed a release. Something...anything that would filter away all his pent up anger and frustrations, Russia had left it's freeze-branded mark settled deep into his alabaster skin. He wanted rid of it. Needed rid of it.

Kylo just wanted to relieve himself of all his tightly wound tensions, it was a throbbing ache in his chest that didn't cease. Plaguing him day and night.

Deep down in the dark cavity where his life organ should lay was simply an empty void, he needed to fill it. Whiskey and tobacco didn't subdue his appetite anymore, he needed something more carnal. Something too devilishly sinister to be spoken past that handsomely dark smirk of his.

The butter-kissed sun spilled through dusty pink clouds over the early morning daybreak. Commercial flying was never something he let himself endure often but he couldn't edge away from it when work called, he'd rarely fly economy but he couldn't splash out on his usual seat in business class. He was left with a sparing seat tucked away in a shitty class away from any seeking eyes, laying low was a hard feat to manage when he was 6'4 and built like a tank.

He kept his onyx Ray-Bans snug on his prominent nose and left the collar of his navy pea coat tugged up his neck, he just wanted to get away. 

The sight that greeted him on his exit from the airport could have made a grown man weep, after being away for months on business Kylo's McLaren 570s was a sight for red-sore eyes. Blacked out to the very rims of his trimmed wheels and oozing in wealthy luxury, no expense was hashed when it came to his custom interiors and finishing touches.

It was only one of the many motors in his collection after all.

Rolled up onto the smooth tarmac by the valet on duty he was met with his precious car being pulled up right to his very feet, he didn't even let his anger simmer over when the older teen was less then careful with the breaks and gears upon screeching to a halt. One prolonged glare from the contract killer and the measly muddy haired boy had scurried off to the next vehicle, it was much easier to just let it go and get home. He'd been away for long enough.

Kylo had someone see that his luggage was sent to his home while he just kept his travel satchel bag with him, for now he didn't need to waste time with the small things. He threw his bag onto the front seat and folded his beefy frame to slip into his car, adjusting his shoulders against the hard seat and gripping the wheel with two big hands. Gripping it hard and taking a deep drag of the authentic Scottish leather caressing his body and senses.

He'd missed the luxury of purely being his own source of transportation.

He roared the vehicle back to life and eased it into first, revving it's beastly engine and wasting no time in leaving the airport parking lot far back on in the distance of his rearview mirror, adjusting the gear and accelerating to a more then illegal speed when a long stretch of road opened up in-front of him.

Finally after three long months Kylo Ren was homeward bound.

....

"I think I'm here?"

Danny's voice was wavered with the cold evening air biting at her water vapour breath, wisps of fog fanning her face as she spoke into her phone hitched close to her ear.

"The code to the gate is 28040218. I've left the door unlocked and the security system should be disarmed. I'm just driving but call me if anything goes wrong. Okay?"

Vicrul's tone was a lot softer then yesterday. Perhaps he felt pity for the fiery girl after it seemed all of her confidence had shrivelled to moon dust, no more snippy remarks or innuendos thrown down the receiver of the phone. She was quiet and more reserved in herself, clearly overtaken by nerves and anticipation for the night ahead of her.

She was fresh and preened, attempting to make herself look somewhat more appealing.

She had taken Vic's requests very seriously. Minimal make up with her hair down in those soft curls she wore last week, she'd spritzed herself in the most sickly sweet blend of perfumes she could muster. Once again as per the German's request. She left her ear lobes bare and simply dressed in a causal little flower petal mini dress.

After non stop texts sent between the two throughout the day Vicrul had mentioned that he would provide her with a little ensemble, as he called it, for her to wear upon her arrival. He wouldn't be there himself to greet her but he had prepared everything earlier on in the day so that his surprise would run as smooth as possible, if the man was honest, he didn't want to be around when Kylo stepped foot over the threshold of his home. He'd practically smell her before he saw her, he knew there would be nothing stopping the contract killer from ripping away and pillaging his impending release. He was an opportunist.

"And you're sure he's not home?"

She queried. Little knees shaking with expectancy.

"If you don't hop your ass inside right now he'll ravage you where you stand. Public or not kitten."

He gifted. Something dark lacing his tone as he almost scolded her with his words.

"I'll call you if I need anything."

She nodded stiffly. Teeth clattering and fingers now trembling with the dying night chill.

"Don't hesitate. Auf Wiedersehen sweetheart."

With his last words. He was gone. Phone line falling away along with his voice.

Danny didn't hang around to see if his warnings were true, stepping to the tall metallic gates that stretched out across a vast drive away she punched in the code that Vic had given her, a small buzzer rang out and the brooding things groaned in movement as they opened to let her small frame clamber through. Her pumps crunched against the rough gravel of the driveway path leading to the house and she pulled her pale pink duster jacket tighter around herself, warding out the biting cold that nipped at her bare exposed skin.

More foggy exhales plagued her vision as she reached the base of the grand modern home, it was a brooding structure with ash stone walls and tinted two way windows, the gardens surrounding it were sown with thick flourishes of black lace that formed a dark barricade around the perimeter and although the place wasn't a mighty tall structure it certainly stretched further back then the naked eye could see. Especially in the falling light of violet-pink sunset.

She practically tiptoed right up to the front door, damp slabs of smooth patio concrete slapping under her shoes as she stepped closer and closer to the threshold beyond this strangers door. This felt wrong, she felt like what she doing wasn't allowed, it seemed strange sneaking around someone's house without them knowing. The danger licked a blazing stripe of heat up Danny's spine and set her thighs on fire, this was so new for her, yet she was actually throbbing in anticipation. She felt dirty for it.

Her fingers found the door handle and she pulled it down with a quick-swift motion, as if the metal would burn her skin if she held onto it too long. She held her breath as the tall span of the door slid open, silent as the night without so much as a creak from it's hinges. Stepping through the frame and letting the slab of crisp white painted wood and glass door shut behind her, the house was eerily cold even with the high stone fireplace burning through into the living room. If Danny thought the house was beautiful from the outside then her breath would be plucked right from her frigid lungs upon seeing the interior, it was sleek and modern with sharp edges and minimal furnishings. All open planned bottom floor with a mighty slab of a marble breakfast bar splitting the deep charcoal kitchen from the brighter living room and dining space, she wanted nothing more then to explore every detail and corner of the gorgeous modern suite she'd walked straight into. She wasn't here to enjoy taking in her surroundings, she was here to serve a much different purpose.

Vicrul's words rang around in her fluttering skull once more, he'll ravage you where you stand, she bit her lip and ventured further into the house. Her eyes were caught on the glass edged coffee table settled between two lavish grey couches in the living area, a small maroon box trimmed with a black lace bow was nestled next to a small white piece of card, no bigger then Danny's palm.

She moved to tred carefully over the cold tiled floor and took the dainty piece of stationary between her fingers, upon reading the words she didn't know wether to feel humoured or hungry.

Very specific instructions jotted down onto the thick paper and signifying what was required of her before the birthday boy returned home.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

𝙺𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗,

𝙵𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.

𝚃𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚡 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚙𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚜. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚝.

1\. 𝙳𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍.

2\. 𝚃𝚒𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢.

3\. 𝙰𝚝 9:30 𝙸 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔.

4\. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙳𝙾 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚍.

𝙱𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎,

𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻

\--------------------------------------------------------------

By the time she'd finished reading the note she was already at his bedroom door, fumbling up the stairs with the neat box tucked under her arm and the card held tightly between her fingers. Her heart was lodged in her throat upon reading the requirements, suddenly everything was real, she wasn't fearful of what the night would bring. She was more fearful of what would come after this, Vicrul's exchanged texts today hadn't been the type that signified numbers would be deleted and completely forgotten about in twenty-four hours time.

He almost seemed pre-emptive. Almost as if they wouldn't be seeing the end of each other anytime soon. Danny figured she was simply letting her mind run away with her situation, come tomorrow morning she'd be financially better off with nothing but a dull ache between her legs to remind her of her deeds. This would all be worth it.

She entered his room and let a long deep exhale pass through her lips, this room was no different to the rest of the house. Sparse furnishings with clean pristine furniture and angled slices of colour that slashed like carved knives. His bed was perhaps the largest she'd ever seen, more then king sized, crisp ash grey sheets on a charcoal upholstered bed frame.

He had a wide screen like window that stretched across almost the entirety of the far wall, letting the night stars gracing the violet-peach sky line reflect off it's transparent gloss.

She plucked her phone from her jacket pocket and her skin turned white as a sheet when she read the time. Nine o'clock. She moved with haste over to his bedside table and fought with the infuriating black frilly lace that decorated the box she'd discarded from under her arm. She finally pried the gift open and a hitch of saliva caught in her tight throat.

Sat against thin layers of blush pink tissue paper was a gorgeous splash of burgundy lace.

An eyelash floral lace garter lingerie set.

With a choker.

It was a gorgeous piece and Danny couldn't deny it, in her time as a dancer this was the type of nightwear that girls were envious of. Of course they'd never use it for work but girls could dream.

Danny often let her mind wander to what it would be like to wear something like this for someone special to her, it wasn't the same with any fleeting regular at the club. This was something to tantalise the mind and senses, that dream was crushed upon her remembrance that she'd never seen the man of the hour. He was still but a stranger to her.

She bit her tongue in mild frustration and worked on getting dressed, she stepped out of her little dress and underwear, kicking off her shoes and socks and leaving them in a neat pile on top of his bed while she worked on her lace wear for the evening.

The lace garment hugged her body like a thin lace glove on a ladies delicate hand, every curve and crevice of her flesh accentuated by it's gorgeous deep wine colour that paired perfectly with her ivory skin.

She almost left the chocker off but she could practically hear Vic's voice ringing through her subconscious. All of it kitten.

She growled as she placed the frilly embroidered lace around her delicate throat, material bobbing as she swallowed hard. The thin garters hugged her ample thighs tightly and the lace felt so smooth and lavish against plump flesh.

She tucked her abandoned clothes and shoes into the crevice between his bed and night table, tugging a hair tie from her wrist and collecting her thick ashy blonde locks into both hands, scraping it up and back into a high ponytail. She secured the tie and let her eyes scan the room for a mirror, she grumbled when she didn't find one but her eyes did indeed find a door at the far side of his room just adjacent to the large window edge. She stepped over to it with her bare feet crushing into the thick rug laying against the floor, she crept in and completely hit the jackpot when she realised it was his on-suite bathroom.

She barely had to creep up onto her tiptoes to get a good look at herself in the grand mirror sat above his widely set sink, she pulled a few strays of her hair from their tied back confinement's; letting them fall to frame her face. She double checked her make up one last time and figured she'd do, just using the pad of her middle finger to remove the tiniest smudge of toothpaste from the corner of her mouth.

She was about to turn to take her place at his door when she spotted a thick exorbitant glass bottle nestled on a small clear lip just beneath the mirror.

A custom Hawthorne cologne bottle sat alone.

She blinked and didn't even register when the bottle was suddenly in her tiny hands, she removed the matte black cap and bought the bottle to her nose. Taking a long deep drag of the woody spice acord, she'd smelt formulas from Olivier Gilliton before and recognised the work of his hands right away.

This cologne was energetic yet still. Underlying notes of citrus and smokey instils of something grainy and earthy. It made her eyes roll back in her head.

Without even thinking, she pressed the pad of her finger to push down the nozzle. The cologne dispersed with droplets lining the air and landing on her clavicle and chest, the chill liquid causing a shiver to trace up Danny's spine. She recognised her mistake and a little too easily the panic seeped into her bones. There was no doubt in her mind that his spiced wood aroma would over power her silky sweet fruit perfume anyday, Vicrul would kill her if she ruined this.

The glass bottle clinked as she set it back it's resting place but a booming loud thud rattled the entirety of the house as she did so. He was home.

Her eyes went wide and she quietly clambered across the room to retrieve the blindfold she'd been commanded to wear, nestling her knees into the plush rug and sitting on them like a peasant kneeling before a king in petition for a request. She let the darkness of the velvet material cover her irises as she was perched on the floor, setting her hands behind her back and waiting patiently like she had been told.

Her lungs were shrivelling in her chest and it felt like her poor heart would shatter her sternum from the force it was battering against it. Her other senses were heightened from her loss of sight, fingers flexing behind her back and her weak chest rising and falling with a microscopic layer of perspiration. She could feel the vibration of his heavy footsteps ring through the floor and she could hear thuds of bags clattering against his dining table.

Her stomach sank to the floor when she heard the clatter of footsteps ascending the stairs, he was so very nearly here.

...

"Happy womb evacuation day John Wick."

Vicrul's pearly smile could blind the already visually-impaired. The curve of his ass was perched on the bonnet of his silver BMW i8, thick arms folded over his even thicker chest. Robin egg blue shirt stretching to the crevices of his broad muscles and flexing tendons, black slacks hugging his strong thighs as one long leg was crossed over the other.

Smuggest thing Kylo had ever seen.

The raven haired hit man stepped out of his car, door shutting a little too sharply as he pushed against the top edge of it flat with his palm.

"Tell me you didn't call me here just to wish me a happy birthday. You're forgetting one of us has been running with the soviets for the last 3 months."

Kylo drew out. Hard voice not sounding harsh enough in his own ear drums.

"Precisely why I needed to see the handsome face of my last brother in arms, what? No hug or kiss on the cheek for your favourite colleague?"

Vic grinned. Chest puffing out with his strained laugh as he watched Kylo's eye twitch.

"You're a thorn in my side if I ever knew of one."

The taller male grumbled. Too exhausted to play the German's little games.

Kylo's hands flew out on instinct to catch whatever Vic had tossed his way, a small dense box landed snug in his palms. He turned it over to inspect it and it was a packet of his preferred cigars, he'd learnt that he didn't need to spend masses of his easily eating cash on things like this, sometimes the simpler the better. 

"I'd have thought Russia would be a welcome change for you. What with the bears and everything."

Vicrul fished a single cigar from his own pocket and a pack of matches along with it, placing the roll of dried-fermented tobacco between his lips and striking the match to light it. Again throwing the box of matches to Kylo and letting him light his own as they conversed. He took a shallow drag of his smoke and let it's deep mellow flavour filter through and taint his lungs, watching the crease of his figurative brother's brow die away on his features as he did the same. Plumes of twin smoke carrying away on the crisp wind whipping between the two men as they stood there.

"Filthy country. Glad to see the back of it."

Kylo curtly got out. Speaking only truth about the Russian torment he'd been subject to over the last 90 days.

"I really did want to see you. Unlike you I'm not a completely heartless bastard."

Vic stifled out between drags of his cigar.

"Carry on and you'll be a headless one."

Kylo warned with no seriousness in his baritone growl.

"Business has been slow over here. Thought I'd update you with the latest from Armitage, he's been more vexing then usual."

The German nodded with a furrow to his brow. Remembering the hilariously empty threat the ginger prick had bitten out towards him only a few weeks earlier, Vic had laughed so hard when he pulled his pocket knife to the pale twats cheek.

He soon shut up after that.

"He's tried to call me numerous times but I've let them go to voicemail, his voice could splinter bone."

Both of them blew a laugh out at that. Despite the passed time it seemed like they'd not even been apart for merely a day.

"Well I'll let you catch up with him another time then. The cigars aren't your only present by the way."

Vic tipped his brow up with a smirk, steel green eyes sharp with something Kylo couldn't catch onto quick enough.

"Care to elaborate?"

One inky brow raised as he questioned the blonde in front of him, but he didn't give as much as an inch.

"You'll see when you get home. I think your secret sweet tooth will be more then sated."

He drawled. Butt of his cigar glowing a dull faint orange as the smoke let out and flooded his chiseled face.

"The sheer notion that you've been in my house doesn't settle well with me."

Kylo mumbled around the cigar perched between his lips.

The two men stood there facing each other, sport car bonnets facing each other also as they sat parked on the ledge lay-by on a dirt road that led to the more secluded hill top estate the killer resided on.

After his long drive from the airport Kylo had received a call from the German, notifying him that he was waiting for him at the belly of the hill leading to his home to gift him a warm welcome back.

He'd rolled his eyes and let a growl erupt down the phone but he obliged none the less, the cold night was shrouding over the edge of the hill when he finally set eyes on the German's ride in the distance

Now they stood there just drinking in each other's presence again, as cold as the killer was he would admit that Vicrul was the closest thing he had to any family. They stuck together like congealed glue through thick and thin and their line of work had already put their faithfulness to the test on multiple occasions. Regardless they held each-other in a high light and would continue to have each others backs, brothers from other mothers.

"Trust me. I think you'll come around when you find out what I've gotten you."


	4. 𝙾𝙱𝙴𝙳𝙸𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙺𝙴𝚈

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'll stay on my side if you stay on yours, big guy."

Kylo couldn't deny it felt good to be back in his own homestead. His leather satchel clattered onto his dining table with a loud thud, big broad body illuminated by the crackling fire licking at the stone fireplace in his living room and casting an amber-citron glow across the angles of the walls.

He immediately felt his whole body relax, tense-coiled muscles unwinding and slotting back into their comfortable confinements, he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck too, knocking away the knots that had bunched together there.

He'd already hung his dark wool pea coat up by the front door and loosed his ebony tie that sat snug around his throat. Vicrul hadn't kept him distracted for too long, they finished off their cigars and made idle chit chat for a few long moments before the German let him be on his way to enjoy the remaining hours of his birthday. The devious grin that struck at Vic's face didn't entertain Kylo one bit. If he knew his friend well, which he did, he knew that he wouldn't have spared any expense when it came to splashing out on lavish and more often then not ridiculous gifts. Just a few years back he'd given him a car. A rickety old beyond rusted car that was barely even road legal, Kylo wanted to laugh and belittle his friend until he watched the entire vehicle jolt.

His well trained ears picking up the dull thrum of pleas and cries. Something. Someone. Was in the trunk of that car. Vicrul simply wiggled his brow and gestured for his friend to investigate with an outstretched arm. The devilish smirk that pulled at the ebony haired killer lips when he saw exactly who it was in the boot of that car was something Vicrulwanted painting on a canvas.

Dryden Vos.

The slippery little bastard was right in front of him and Kylo relished in it. Bound, gagged and already beaten within an inch of his life, Kylo was pissed off it wasn't his fine handy work. Never the less, he'd finish the job, and he'd enjoy doing it.

Vos had been slipping past Kylo's radar for months.

He'd always be that second too late when it came to tip offs or the slimy twat was never there in the first place, that point in Kylo's life was a fucking hellish one. Vicrul had never seen that side to his friend, the pure hot boiling red anger that seeped out of every pore was dangerous and downright sinister.

The German remembers one particular day at their hidden office, Hux's shrill voice echoing through the shallow walls and causing a mile long radius of disturbance.

Kylo had murdered someone. Off his own back.

No contracts. No requests. No job.

Simply because he wanted to. Because he needed to.

Police had started sniffing around the moment they found the poor junkies body. Dismembered, gutted and asphyxiated. He was missing fingers and the juncture of his right elbow had be hacked at and tornclean off, his eyes were bulging and bloody from how hard he was choked and air starved, his tee shirt had been ripped below the sternum and exposed just how horrifying the severed wound leading from the centre of his breast bone right down to the beginnings of where his groin was. His intestines were strewn across the floor and his stomach had been punctured and was sloped across the concrete along with some other organs that were vital for survival. It was a brutal, bloody and haunting scene, something the NYPD hadn't seen for a very very long time.

His body was barely out of the public's view, crimson-black staining the concrete pass way of a building lot. Chilling corpse on full display to the residents living in the apartments surrounding the gruesome scene.

Kylo had killed someone in broad daylight.

No motives, no conviction, no valid reasoning.

Simply because he could.

He strolled into that office without so much as a lull in his step, bloodied fingers snug around a lit cigar puffing thick plumes of smog from his full lips.

A glint of sated hunger in his eyes and a cool composed aura about himself, he looked cool as a cucumber. Despite having killed someone not even half an hour earlier.

This wasn't something that came easily to Vicrul and Armitage, Kylo was notorious for killing quickly and quietly with limited mess and suspicion.

Something this grizzly was completely out of his character and nature. He was cut like a god out of marbled Roman stone and his stoic demeanour and characterisation matched that, this was the first time in years that he'd done something so outrageous and horrific.

His colleagues couldn't lie when they felt their nerves bundle and shrivel upon his entrance.

He'd killed an innocent man for the pure reasoning that he was pissed off. Angry at himself because he'd missed out on so many opportunities to end Dryden Vos, pouting like a spoiled child and completely unhinging himself off the rails just because he hadn't yet fulfilled his task.

Vicrul had dragged him out of that office quicker then he arrived. Driving the both of them a few hours away from the city and having the situation dealt with by Hux, they didn't speak for the entirety of the journey. Didn't need to. They both understood his reasoning, Vic wasn't about to force him to explain himself and risk his guts being strewn across the open road, he knew it would never come to that but today's events had proved just how unpredictable Kylo Ren could really be.

It scared him. Not for his own life, but for Kylo's.

The day he'd gotten that rackety old car dumped at his feet was one of the best day's of Kylo's life, he swore to it. That day was filled with blood, anger, resentment and hatred towards things Kylo didn't fully understand. He knew that Dryden was a bad guy, that's all he needed to know. He'd cheated, stolen, raped, drugged and lapsed his way through his years. Not caring who he hurt or what the consequences of his actions were, today, Kylo wouldn't care either.

He'd been left to his own devices until Vicrul received a call from his friend, asking him to tow the car with him to the most secluded river or water source they could find.

That night they dumped that rusty old Chevy in a road side river with a congealed bloody dismembered body in the trunk, they watched it sink to the very bottom and relished in their fine work.

It took months before Hux trusted Kylo with a proper assignment again, it had taken an arm and a leg to cover up what the ebony haired hitman had done. Alas with a scolding from the ginger prick and a slap on the wrist for gross misconduct Kylo was sent on his way with a new contract in hand, a job that Hux hoped would redeem the ungodly actions of one of the best killers in the division.

If Kylo's was honest. He hoped that he wasn't going to get another car stuffed with a bloodied rapist this year, he was much too tired for it.

His time abroad had sucked every ounce of his blood-thirst right out of him. Tomorrow was a new day, but, tonight he just needed to cure a different type of hunger. One that wouldn't come so easily.

His leather oxford clad feet almost carried his sluggish body straight to his liquor cabinet, on instinct, he'd rather freshen up and at least get himself comfortable first. He knew in this sedated state he wouldn't last long on the alcohol, his big body wouldn't feel it but his fatigued brain would lull him into a false slumber sooner then he could stop it.

Upon his retreat his eyes caught onto something.

A small slither of card stock scribbled with Vic's swirled messy handwriting.

He huffed and dragged himself from the kitchen, making his way upstairs as he continued to loosen and unknot the tie around his neck, holding it tight between his fingers as he arrived at the foot of his bedroom door.

Something hit him.

He felt something beyond that door and it rattled him to his bones, an ache in his chest pulling taught.

A warmth had spread through the house and he now knew it wasn't just from the fire Vicrul had lit, he knew the warmth of a body when he sensed one.

A live body.

He practically ripped the door of it's hinges as his big body clambered into the room, wide chest heaving as his dark eyes caught sight of the last thing he would have expected to see on his bedroom floor.

A girl.

He watched as her little chest hitched when the noise of the door and his feet hit the wall and floor, saw her pretty pale throat bob when she swallowed all too audibly. She shifted on her knees the tiniest bit, thighs tight with strain and the rough texture of the rug biting at her smooth skin. Her hands were clasped behind her back and it made her tits push outwards towards him, giving him a mouth watering sight. His eyes didn't know where to look, his tongue felt too big for his mouth and his Adam's Apple jolted when he swallowed down the lump lodged in his throat, the lingerie wasn't hiding anything.

Kylo could see the clear outline of her pebbled nipples beneath the wine lace and his eyes strained when he tried to see what was between those clenched thighs of hers. He was frozen there for a few moments, partly because he didn't quite believe what he was seeing, and mostly because he felt his cock stir solid when she couldn't stop fidgeting under his cold gaze. Blindfold obstructing her view from anything but the dark material of the velvet covering her eyes, her plump lips were parted and in taking shallow breaths as she tried to focus on the movement in the room. Seeking what angle he would pounce from, her weak little muscles trembling with a cocktail of excitement and anticipation.

He stepped forward. Door lock clicking into place as he pushed it closed harshly, she jumped at that.

The force ricocheted off the frame of the door, flowing through the structure of the room and settling a shiver through her knees and thighs from the vibration of the floorboards.

He moved closer and closer. She could feel it, his blazing body heat set a stifling air in the room, she felt the clatter of his expensive shoes against the floor and each step neared closer and closer.

Dangerously close.

The toe of his shoes stopped just shy of her kneecaps. She kept her eyes trained forward, didn't crane her neck upwards or around the room.

Vicrul's little reminder on the note had drilled that instinct right into her.

Behave. And behave she would.

She squeaked when large calloused fingers found her hair, twining the thick ash blonde tufts around them and letting them pull tight as he gripped them ever so slightly. Teasing. Testing.

They stroked through the tied back strands as he continued to loop the length of her high pony tail around his hand and tug it back, a gasp escaped her lips and her neck was all of a sudden exposed and craned back. If not for the blindfold, she would have been looking him straight in the eye.

"Name."

His deep baritone growl erupted into the silence of the room, dancing across the thick tension in the air and cutting straight through the thundering sound of Danny's own heartbeat in her ears.

Her mind didn't register a intellectual answer. She needed to treat this like she would treat her punters at work, despite the vast difference in circumstance she wouldn't let herself slip up.

"Whatever you want it to be."

She crooned. Willing her voice not to crack over waver. It didn't.

Kylo hummed. Displeased. His eyes scanned the room, landing on a small maroon box with a note abandoned in the blush tissue paper.

He took one long look at her and dropped his vice grip on her silky hair, she let out a strained breath as he stepped away from her. Heading straight for his bedside table and plucking the note from the box, the words typed down onto the card ran through his pulse and straight to his now rock solid cock.

A filthy smirk pulled at his lips and he flicked the card away with his index finger and thumb, shoes muffled by the rug as he loomed over her once again.

Like a vision of death itself. Top shirt buttons undone and slightly exposing his collar bones and a devilish bulge straining against his slacks.

He had to hand it to Vic. He sure had picked a pretty one.

This time he wasn't so careful. The toe of his shoe connected with her folded knee and she flinched back, having not heard how close he was.

A dark echoing chuckle rang through his chest. Relishing and enjoying just how she reacted to his presence, she'd be a goner by the end of the night.

"How do you know Vic, Kitten?"

He drawled. Hand finding her hair again and tugging harsher on her scalp, she whined when her throat was stretched up and back. Swallowing and wetting her lips before she spoke up.

"He came to my place of work. Asked me if I wanted to do him a little favour."

She spoke softly. A slight strain catching her tone as Kylo didn't loosen his grip on her hair.

"And you willingly accepted?"

He queried. Humoured amusement lining his tone, clearly Vicrul had failed to elaborate just what this delicious little thing was getting herself into.

"Yes."

She breathed out.

A swift sharp tug to her hair caught her off guard, almost ripping her right from her kneeling position and knocking her flat on her back.

"Yes what?"

He growled lowly.

She yelped and set her neck back into place.

"Yes sir."

She whined. Bottom lip catching between her teeth as her thighs clenched, she was getting aroused by how rough he was being.

"Good girl."

He settled. Letting her silky locks untangle themselves from his hand, instead he let his thick rough fingers trail across the apple of her cheek. Feeling the lack of oily make up slapped onto her smooth skin and feeling just how warm she was.

She didn't flinch back as much, simply the lack of vision causing her to startle slightly whenever he came closer. In good time he'd let her see him, for now, he'd do as he pleased with her.

Kylo's fingers skimmed down her face and across her throat, tracing teasing lines before his wide palm encased the entirety of her neck with ease.

A cloud of breath squeezed from her lungs and he felt her body twitch when he tightened his fingers, her little hands still staying clasped behind her back the entire time. Such a good girl.

"Stand up."

He commanded. Still keeping his hand gripped tight around her pretty little throat and training his eyes to every crevice and curvature of her body.

She didn't answer him verbally but obliged, weak little legs like dead rubber from being folded in her kneeling position for so long, causing her to wobble in her stance as she stood upright. Kylo's eyes took in the entirety of her now, not sparing a glance from every freckle, scar and stretch mark.

She was fucking gorgeous.

He could clearly see the slope of her hips and the ample plush softness of her thighs as they jiggled very slightly when she stood, a thinning layer of perspiration running flat down the dip of her sternum between her tits. He wanted to lick it all up. Taste her salt-sweetness on his tongue as he lapped up everything she had to offer, he'd take it regardless. He wanted to rip that cerise coloured lace right off her, tear the flimsy wine material away with his teeth like the carnivore he was.

He'd take it. Take her. Take everything.

Take, take, take.

Like he always did.

Her head barely brushed past his pectorals, she was smaller then him in every sense of the word.

He could no doubt crush her skull in one palm if he so wished to. He really could.

Her hands had flown out to steady herself when she felt herself jolt from her jelly legs and her fingertips brushed the edge of his shirt that was tucked into his slacks, but she quickly reprimanded herself, tucking them snug behind the small of her back once more. She could still hear that german tongue ringing in her ears. Follow each rule if you want to survive, Kitten.

Kylo's dick jumped when he felt her little hand against him, the tiniest fleeting touch and he was gagging for it. Practically salivated at the thought of having her idle little hands exploring every corner of his hardened muscular frame.

His fingers ticked against her throat and his jaw set tight, she looked so fucking innocent. Even dressed in the sparsest amount of lingerie he'd ever seen with her eyes obstructed like the slut she was.

The lace decorating her neck was cutting a pattern into his palm from how tight he was holding her, she took it in her stride. Didn't so much a tremble.

A gust of air brushed passed Danny's shoulders and her head swayed when she realised she was being walked backwards, soft rug against her bare feet as the back of her thighs crushed against the soft quilt of his bed. She fell back with a gasp and his hold on her neck released, her fingers crumpled the sheets and her mouth hung open when she felt those warm hands parting her thighs. Kylo was still fully dressed when he moved to crouch between her legs, hoisting her calves to settle on his shoulders as he placed fluttering kisses on the insides of her plump thighs.

Trailing further and further up.

She still couldn't see. But the loss of vision heightened everything.

Each caress of his hands against her skin and each warm breath that fogged against her inner thighs. It felt like he was lighting a fire, a blazing crescendo that licked it's way up her spine and vertebrae.

His hot plump lips pressed against the lace covering her pussy, wet tongue pressing against it and eliciting a whine from her dry lips.

She jolted away from him, trying to use her little hands to climb up the bed.

He growled into her sex and one big hand left her thigh and pressed down hard against her stomach, holding her in place like a python constricting it's prey.

"Obedience is key, kitten."

He bit out against her wet cunt. Tongue darting out to lick a thick stripe against the expanse of her cunt while he watched her pretty little face crumple in pleasure. She was soaked for him already. She tasted so so sweet like sugar ambrosia. Ethereal nectar served to him straight from the doves of Olympus.

She whined something to him but he was too busy eating her out to take it in, one index finger hooking her lingerie to the side while he worked on her aching clit.

For the first time that night. She touched him.

Little fingers locking into the inky tendrils of his hair while he savoured her sweet taste against his full lips. He was stunned, mouth frozen in her cunt when he felt those little fingers scrape at his scalp.

Kitten was fucking bold for that.

"I-I'm here to...to please you."

She heaved out. Pert tits rising and falling with laboured breaths as she let the bliss of his skilled mouth run through her.

What she failed to realise was the fact he wasn't eating her out to the high heavens from the goodness of his own heart, he was warming her up.

Given he was a monster, but he wasn't about to tear her in half when he ploughed her straight into his stupidly expensive Vispring mattress.

He'd get her soaked and have her walls fluttering around his fingers and tongue before he even thought about having her ride him like a damn show pony, that innocent streak of hers would be nothing but a faint characteristic when she woke up to the burnt aching memory of his dick tomorrow.

He'd pluck it right out of her, have her filthy mouth drooling all over his cock and that pretty little pussy gushing with his spend.

"And you will Kitten."

He punctuated as he delved back into her. Prominent nose rubbing against her clit and skilled tongue caressing her tight walls.

She moaned and went to tear her hand away from his hair but his hand encased her wrist, bringing it back to his scalp. Fingers moving to have hers enclose around his locks once more, she took the hint, tugging mindlessly when he flicked his tongue just right inside of her.

He hummed into her soaked cunt and she squirmed in delight, hips bucking to meet his face and have his wet muscle deeper inside her pussy.

Her whines and mewls were music to Kylo's ears, she tugged on his hair again he when retreated slightly and flicked her hard clit with his tongue.

His shoulders popped as he towered over her while still on his knees, chin and lips glistening with her juices.

He had her calves still hooked over his shoulders and he used their new angle to remove the flimsy lace thong, manoeuvring it over her ample thighs and down her legs. Finally discarding it on the floor where it belonged and focusing his attention back on her weeping cunt.

Her body jolted when he teased her with one thick digit, testing the waters and letting it breach her walls. He growled lowly in his throat when he felt her clench around his digit, self control slipping away as he pumped two rough fingers inside of her now. She moaned and gasped to the gods, rocking her hips down to meet his fingers as he set a brutal rhythm right from the off.

"Such a needy little slut for me."

He husked out. His own chest heavy with his wavering control.

She whimpered and whined when he picked up his pace, using his free hand to pinch and tease her nipples that were hardened beneath the wine material. Her taste was still humming on his tongue while he worked her open with his fingers, plunging and scissoring her wetness apart so she could finally take him. He felt her walls tighten and flutter around his fingers, as much as he'd love having her gush and cream all over his hand he'd much prefer it over and around his cock.

He pulled his digits from her cunt roughly, she winced at the pain and the loss of fullness just from his rough fingers. Little chest heaving greedily on oxygen as she was denied her oncoming orgasm, the tight coil in her abdomen was loosening and she tried to clench her thighs together to muster any friction she could. She dared to do something she solemn knew he wouldn't like, her fingers darted straight to her clit to try and sate herself but he was far too quick, crippling vice like grip around her wrist so tight she knew he could splinter the bone if he wished. She wanted to sob at the denial he'd gifted her, she wanted to cum, needed to cum.

He bent her wrist to an unnatural angle and pinned it to the bed beside her head, she squirmed beneath him as he loomed over her now. Knees straddling her naked thighs as darkness still filled her vision, he was huge, weighted muscle pressing her further down against the softness of the mattress.

"You don't touch yourself until I say you can fucking touch yourself. Understood, slut?"

He spat.

She meekly nodded at him, bottom lip trembling as his booming voice pierced through to her very soul.

Her vision danced with white light and her head whipped to the side as a sudden blaring pain shot through the left side of her face.

"Answer me."

He growled. Rough fingers pinching her jaw so she was facing him head on despite not being able to meet his eye physically.

"Y-yes sir."

She gifted softly. Cheek no doubt splashed with a red welting handprint from his strike.

He huffed a deep dragging breath through his nose, completely removing himself from her body. Yet she didn't dare to move, left paralysed and sprawled out on her back like a starfish trying to listen closely to his movements. She gasped when she felt deft digits hook into the lace choker decorating her pale throat, windpipe bobbing against his skin as he tugged her upwards to a sitting position. She steadied herself on her hands beside her thighs, fingers grasping at the silk comforter to try and ground herself.

She felt his hands flutter at her sides, lacing her skin with goosebumps as he barely even touched her, they continued round to her back where he popped the fastenings on her bra with one skilled hand. Letting it fall forwards into her lap as she still sat there motionless, the only movements being that of her heavy inhales.

She was completely bare in front of him now, save for the garters and choker, but he wasn't in a rush to discard of them just yet.

He towered to his full height, dark shadowed body looming tall over her seated frame.

She felt one of his hands take hers, clasping around her wrist and bringing her arm out towards him.

The air caught in her throat when her palm was met with a warm hard expanse of muscle, not a shred of fat on his body as he traced her little hand over the curvature of his chest and abdominals. His cotton shirt felt so lavish and soft under her fingertips, contrasting to the ragged-calloused skin of his hands. He laced their fingers together and manoeuvred her hands to work at his shirt buttons, she continued without him, gingerly bringing up her other shaky hand to feel and fumble around in her blinded state.

Kylo's hands moved to pinch her nipples as she tried to undress him, he saw the way she clenched her thighs together when he touched her, watched her bite her lip when he tweaked her flesh in a slow languid pace.

She had to hover slightly when it came to the rest of the buttons, he knocked her hand away and did it for her. Letting the smooth cotton fall away from his shoulders and to his feet as he took her hands again, getting her little mitts all over him again. He practically groaned when her bare skin touched his, warmth radiating from her palms straight into the cold depth of his chest.

"I want your hands on me at all times. Got it?"

He tested.

"Yes sir."

She didn't miss a beat with her answer. As if she was more the willing to comply to that request without the need to be asked.

"Good girl."

He growled. He hooked his finger back into her frilly collar, a strained noise leaving her throat as she was hauled up roughly into his chest.

He kept one of her clammy hands pressed to his chest while he moved her other one to his belt, metal buckle catching on one of the dainty little rings decorating her fingers. She got his insinuation, blindly feeling around and finding the fastenings all by herself.

Kylo found this too amusing. Having her so vulnerable in front of him, she shivered and squirmed when he touched her, and when he didn't. Just hovering his fingers ever so slightly above her skin so that she knew he was there, but never making contact. She sought out his touch, bucked into his fingers, gasped to the high heavens.

She wanted him. She'd never even seen him.

He quickly deduced that she wasn't an escort, her mannerisms and hesitation proved that. He couldn't quite grasp what she was; who she was. And for now, he didn't care. Kylo Ren was selfish even when it wasn't his birthday, why stop today?

She messily tugged off his belt, seeming a little desperate herself at this point. Something else that amused the contract killer, if she thought he'd denied her from cumming earlier, then she really needed to get laid more often. Given the chance he'd edge her for hours, have her cum hard on his tongue and eat her out until she was passed out. The dirty things he'd do to her, he'd have her ride him till the sun came up, take her all too roughly from behind while he tugged on her hair and growled utter filth into her ear, he fuck her throat till she couldn't breath and choked on his cum. He'd do it all.

But for tonight? He'd fuck for the release of it, fire all his tensions away into her and in the only way he knew how.

He'd fuck her till he was spent and his anger had dissipated, something awfully selfish but he didn't care. He couldn't care less wether she came or not, he needed to take care of himself.

The zipper of his slacks was tugged down and the buttons were dealt with, they struggled to fall down his strong thighs but he shimmied them off, kicking off his shoes and socks along with them.

Left in nothing but his boxers he didn't even have to guide her now, her little (still shaky) hand found his raging erection beneath his briefs. Cupping and teasing him as her nails raked down his sweat lined chest, one of his big hands cupped the side of her throat while the other was wound around her waist and cupping the pert roundness of her ass.

A growl rumbled in his throat as her fingers delved into the material of his underwear, hot skin and leaking pre-cum meeting her hand as she took him in her palm. Or at least tried to, she stifled a moan when she felt just how big he really was, not just in length but girth too. She swallowed. Not sure how he would even fit inside of her.

Without a command she sunk down to her knees, ever so slowly edging her way down to the plush soft carpet beneath her. His hands wove into her pony tail as he let the strands coil around his fingers, her fingers tugged at the waistband of his briefs and bought them down his hips, angry-red cock bobbing free just inches away from her face.

She still couldn't see.

She trailed her fingers up his thick thighs and let her nails bite at his skin, she heard a hiss blow past his clenched teeth and felt his whole body shift.

A little too daftly she let her hands trail down over his sex lines, feeling the muscle tense and ripple under her skin. Finally her hand met the slick length of his cock, leaking and flushed and angry.

Kylo had to fight the urge to plough straight past her teeth and into her throat at that point, teeth grating against the inside of his cheek as she watched her with keen black eyes.

She was taunting him. She didn't even know it. Tender little fingers gripping around his immense girth and giving it a few strokes, testing her boundaries and testing his control.

She was completely fucking oblivious to it.

Her tongue darted out to wet her quivering lips, like a kitten waiting for it's warm milk. He gripped the strands of her hair tighter when he felt the warm encompass of her breath against his shaft.

He almost tore her scalp right off when she finally, finally, took him into her mouth. Very briefly, tasting the tang of salt sweat and bitter pre-cum on her palate, she gained more confidence. Licking a stripe from the base of his cock right to the very head, swollen and red and waiting to burst.

She let her tongue swirl over the tip and took him further into her throat, gagging harshly when he spurred forward and hit her uvula.

She didn't back off, she doubted he would let her. She let tears spear at her eyes as he shifted his hips to fuck her throat, filling her mouth with his slick pre-cum and causing her own spit to gather at the corners of her lips. His grip in her hair was tight and she had to move her palms to his thighs to steady herself as he snapped his hips against her face, balls hitting her chin as he picked up the pace and jack-hammered mercilessly.

The air was stuffy and a symphony of deep guttural groans and strangled chokes filtered through it's content. 

"Thaaat's it. Take all of it Kitten."

He snarled. Head lulling back with inky swirls of hair sticking to his sweaty forehead.

She tried her best to please him, jaw popping as she tried to open her mouth as wide as she could for him. Hands moving from his thighs to grip him at the base, pumping her little hand and bobbing her head to meet his thrusts. He grew carnal.

Ripping her off his length by the throat and shoving her up onto the bed, the sheets rasped against the skin of her back and the air was knocked straight of her. Tastebuds humming with cum and salt as she tried to steady her running chest, tears soaked into the velvety blindfold from how good he'd fucked her throat.

All too suddenly the head of his cock breached her cunt, slick with both their arousals and pushing deeper and deeper. He caged her to the bed with his strong-sturdy arms, her hands found his shoulder blades as she cried out in a mixture of pain and pleasure. Nails biting into his skin as it felt like he was pushing up into her throat from just how big he was, growing hotter and harder inside of her dripping pussy. Kylo groaned shamelessly, not even trying to hold back his satisfaction when he bottomed out to the hilt, hitting her cervix and sending a jolting shiver through her little body. Danny's cunt swallowed him so good. Tight little hole clenching around his cock and sucking him in further, he rocked into her and she screamed, the sounds ripped through her throat and all bleeding into one. Kylo was deaf to it, the sounds didn't register. His pulse was drumming in his ears and his brain was in his cock, mind spiralling with just how fucking good she felt. Tight. Hot. Beautiful. Wet.

His eyes were focussed on her pretty little face, jaw slack with moans spilling past her lips and features bunched tight together in crippling pleasure.

His rhythm was brutal and unforgiving, not letting her adjust an inch as he ploughed into her with rough uncontrollable thrusts. She cried gods name and he guessed maybe she'd be screaming his, if she knew it.

Kylo adjusted his hips, striking deeper into her cunt as he felt her nails break skin. Her moans were inaudible now, mouth hung open like a parched fish as she tried to suck down oxygen. He was punching it right out of her with his hips, one of his big hands clamped around her throat and the other pushed down against her stomach, creating a tighter pleasure that surged right from his toes to the hairs on his head.

He dipped his head down. Swirling his thick tongue around one of her nipples while she still tried to whine and splutter nonsense, little fingers grasped his hair and tugged with each thrust he gave.

His eyes widened when he kissed and licked his way up her sternum, keen senses landing on something all too familiar.

His hand gripped her wrist once more and ripped away from his scalp, pinning it over her head and collecting the other one to do the same. Not caring if his grip would leave bruises on her pale skin for tomorrow.

"Wearing my cologne like some fucking lap dog? Fuck you're a filthy little cum slut aren't you."

He seethed through pearly clenched teeth. Still fucking into her dripping cunt while she tried to blabber up at him.

"Say it."

Biting out his words as he clutched both wrists in one hand and bought his free one down to grip her throat, he imagined her eyes were rolling back in her skull at this point. Completely senseless to the rough fucking and oxygen deprivation.

She didn't respond. She couldn't. Her tongue felt like cotton wool in her mouth and her mind was swimming with ecstasy. Her words wouldn't form.

"Fucking say it. Slut."

His grip loosened slightly, still there but not as hard as he allowed her to speak.

"Ah-I'm! I'm a filthy...little c-cum uhh! Slut."

She whimpered. Cunt sore from his roughness and oozing her juices all over his bed sheets.

"Good girl."

He drawled. Lapping up the spurts of his chemical cologne and droplets of salt-sweat tricking down her tits and sternum, mixing with the taste of her still on his tastebuds.

He felt she was close. He was too. Her walls were gripping him like a god damn vice and her breathing was shallow. His teeth sank into the juncture of her neck and littered the underside of her jaw with blooming marks. His marks.

He let go of her wrists and his thumb found her clit, tracing small circles around the bundle of nerves as he picked up his pace, hips slamming into her with so much force she inched further and further up the bed spread. Her fingers struggled to wrap around the girth of his wrist as she wailed and cried, attention and friction to her clit becoming too much for her to bare.

Kylo growled into her neck. Leaving more bruises for her to find in the morning, thumb attacking her clit in a feverish manor.

A few more deep thrusts and she snapped.

Hips jutting up into his as he fucked her through her orgasm, not letting up as she cried and squirmed away from him. The overstimulation biting at her numbing nerves and sending her limbs into a rubber like state, she choked on her pleas for him to stop but she was only spurring him on.

"Fuck!"

She was screaming. Crying and spluttering for him to stop but his pace wouldn't let up, not until he'd chased his own high. That's exactly what he was doing.

He grabbed one of her hands and set it against his chest, almost crushing her fingers in his as he forced her to dig her nails into him, biting red trails of bloodied welts into his alabaster skin.

That had done it.

He cursed every profanity under the sun when he came, spending deep inside her while she milked his cock of everything he had. His dick throbbed with the aftershocks and his chest felt tight and heavy while he tried to regain his oxygen intake.

Tacky sweaty bodies slick and sticky against one another as they both heaved and sighed into each other's mouths.

He balanced his weight on his elbows as he hovered above her, one lone drop of sweat running down his nose and dripping onto her sternum. 

Kylo wasn't the curious type. He could easily leave things alone and move on without giving things so much as a second thought, he appreciated Vic's intentions but he felt something strike his chest.

Felt something squirm and stir deep deep down in the darkness of his chest, he'd felt it before.

A long long time ago.

This time. His curiosity would get the better of him.

He bought a big deft hand up, shifting and balancing all of his weight on his left arm, his fingers grazed the velvet soft covering on her eyes. The first gentle thing he had done that night, slipping it up and off her head.

Her big doe sea foam eyes blinked open. Rimmed raw with stray tears and lashes wet and tacked together.

Still gleaming and beautiful in the flighty dying evening skylight.

They were wide and full of wonder.

Kylo half expected her to crawl away from him, wince away and get his hands away from her.

She didn't. That big jagged scar slicing through the right side of his face wasn't the first thing she focussed on, he watched. Watched her glossy eyes stare straight into his, before she let them roam over the entirety of him. She drank in the moles and freckles littering his face, the inky strands dangling in his vision and tickling her chest, she watched his cinder-burnt irises as they stayed glued to her.

His harrowing scar was the last thing she focussed on, he didn't even register her trembling fingers coming up towards him. Only realised she'd moved when he felt the warm pads of her fingers trace the expanse of the pink-kissed scar, from the top of his brow; across his eye and right down across his face till it breached his jaw and ran down his collar bone.

He flinched at her touch but didn't move away. Curious to see how long it would take for her to completely crash from her high and try to clamber away.

She didn't. She stayed there. Cooling sweat slicking her skin as she let both her hands now cup his cheeks, soft skin of her thumbs running over every freckle and every mark.

He caught it when her brows knit together.

Clearly wondering just how he'd gotten that scar. 

The next move surprised the both of them.

Kylo kissed her. Let his plump lips dance with hers as he hummed into her mouth, free hand drifting to caress her rib cage and earning him a soft gasp.

A perfect opportunity for him to let his tongue tangle with hers, they both moaned at the taste of each other's cum, salt-sweet tang slashing across their palates as the kiss went on.

Her hands pushed against his pecs and she broke the kiss, rib cage expanding with the intake of her shallow breaths. Eyes blown wide and searching his chiseled face. She wanted to say something. She had questions. She was curious. Confused.

Kylo knew it, he could sense it.

If he looked at those pleading sea green eyes of hers any longer then she might just get those answers.

He sighed, pulling out of her soaked cunt with a wet pop and crawled off of her. Softening cock twitching as he found his briefs and tugged them snug over his hips, he swept a big hand to push the sweaty locks out of his vision. Taking in the sight of her still sprawled out on his bed, she was sat up now, knees pushed together so she wasn't as exposed to him with her hands still fisting the bed sheets beneath her.

"Security system is on. You can sleep in here tonight, I'll stay downstairs."

He grumbled. That ache in his chest was sated but something new was burrowing there instead, something he hadn't felt in a long while.

He turned his wide muscled back to her as he moved, shoulders popping and neck clicking into place as he cracked them while he walked.

"No! Wait!"

Her soft pleading little voice stabbed him right between his shoulder blades, he let his eyes cast over his shoulder and he let her say her piece. Her hand was outstretched and she'd grabbed one of his pillows to sit in her lap and cover her indecencies.

"Yes, kitten?"

He growled.

"Let me stay downstairs. Don't let me kick you out of your own bed, I shouldn't be here."

She let the last bit slip out a little too easily, she bit her lip and mentally kicked herself. Not knowing which or what way he would take her words. Watching him as he moved around the bed.

"The security system is a ball-ache to reset once it's been tripped so I don't want you catching it by accident, besides, my couch is plenty comfy enough sweetheart."

He gifted. Beefy shoulder now sloped against the door frame of his walk in closet, peeling off to pluck something off one of the rails. She couldn't see him but she could hear him fumbling around. 

"I won't mess with anything I promise."

She tried. Setting her glossy doe eyes to puppy mode.

"Sorry Kitten. No deal."

He stated curtly. Reappearing from the closet with a cotton shirt to hand, he walked straight up to her and held it out. Not minding one bit when their fingers brushed against each other when she took it from him, it was a sweet gesture, she hadn't expected to stay the night so she hardly prepared by bringing anything to sleep in.

She let the pillow fall away and draped the crisp-clean cotton shirt over her shoulders, weaving her arms through and immediately having to roll the sleeves that were amusingly too long, she buttoned it up and all the while she was aware was being watched. She found that she didn't mind, it was almost domestic. She unhooked the fastenings of the garters still pinching her thighs and did the same for the choker draped around her neck, settling them back in the box as she leant over to his night stand.

Lastly she pulled the hair tie out, sighing when her hair fell into soft waves releasing the taught tension of her updo.

They looked at each other in silence for a few fleeting moments, neither of them speaking up and truly saying what they wanted to. Until...

"Stay with me."

The words came out quicker then she could let her brain register them. She wanted to slap herself silly for how dumb and needy she must have sounded, she expected him to laugh in her face and tell her what a dumb slut she was. He didn't.

"You don't know what you're saying Kitten."

He warned a little coldly. She didn't know him. No one did. They'd just met. Clueless little kitten.

"I won't forgive myself for letting you sleep on the couch and get a crick in your neck, but you won't let me sleep downstairs, call it a compromise."

God Kylo swore he felt himself harden in his briefs, is she wasn't careful he'd put that pretty smart mouth back to work. 

If it were any other girl in the position Kylo didn't doubt that he'd have told them to take a swan dive out of his window, they were nothing more then a wet place to put it for him. Never truly sated his hunger and left him feeling emptier and colder then before, they weren't lovers. They were distractions.

Yet this little kitten felt different. He couldn't put his money on it but that ache in his chest had been looming for a long time, she may have only chipped away at a small microscopic fraction of it, but alas she'd still had an effect on him.

He didn't want to believe it.

"If you so insist Kitten. Don't be surprised if I can't keep my hands to myself."

He teased. A hum of warmth fluttering across his chest.

"I'll stay on my side if you stay on yours, big guy."

She retorted playfully. Sea foam eyes watchful of his approach.

He stopped just shy of the bed. Big body looming like a dangerous cloaked shadow over her.

The lines of his cheeks tugged up at the edges as he smirked.

"Kylo."

He gifted a little softer.

Her cheeks flushed when he gave her his name, little tired mind overwhelmed to the high heavens with it.

She smiled widely, eyes crinkling and cheeks dimpling as she did.

She thrust her hand out to him.

"Danny."

She nodded.

His smirk tugged up further, some would have said it almost resembled a smile.

He took her small hand in his big rough mitt, dwarfing it completely as they shook hands.

Danny couldn't help but think that this had been the most intimate exchange of the evening, it was mutual and warm. Like their kiss.

She let go of his hand and clambered back into the bed, patting the space next to her as she moved the covers down with her feet. His sweltering hot body couldn't comprehend how she was cold, there was less of her he supposed.

The bed dipped and groaned under his added weight but he didn't pay it mind, flicking the soft quilt back and letting it drape half-heartedly over his strong legs. He wouldn't mention the fact that she was settled on his side of the bed, he'd let it slide , just this once.

Kylo let one arm rest under his pillow while the other was resting against his broad rib cage, she mimicked him. Turning to face him and letting her body take the same shape his had, they looked at each other in that same intoxicating way again, neither of them wanting to be the first to look away.

She smiled widely at him. Actually beaming. Something not a lot of people did when they were around Kylo, it was new and foreign to him.

It unsettled him more then having another man's in-trails staining his hands. He clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes at her, catastrophically down playing the entire ordeal.

Her smile didn't let up though, she turned away from him, cotton against cotton as the shirt contoured to the slope of her hips.

Silent minutes passed them by and Kylo assumed that signified her slumber. Little Danny sound asleep in his bed.

"Kylo?"

"Hmm?"

His voice sounded like gravel in his throat as sleep bit at his consciousness. 

"Happy Birthday."


	5. 𝙲𝙸𝙶𝙰𝚁𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙴𝚂 𝙰𝙵𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚂𝙴𝚇

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Might want to answer her, Kitten."

The summer morning was cold and crisp in it's early state, but the bed beside Danny was colder.

She hadn't stirred all night. Completely fucked out to bliss; her little body humming with more then just the post-sex after glow, alas, she woke up alone.

Kylo was no where in sight, his sweltering heat was taken with him and she felt cold and empty.

The cotton sheets creased and crumpled as she shifted to sit up, bleary sea green eyes strained with the offensive daylight breaking through the wide window set next to the bed. His crisp ironed shirt was now folded and moulded to the curvatures of her body, despite it being many sizes too big it had still contoured to her frame while she slept peacefully.

Her sleep riddled eyes blinked a few times, crusty and blurry from her slumber. She took in the state of the room around her, all discord from last night set right, his clothes weren't littering the floor anymore and Kylo had discarded of last nights lingerie and the box it came in. Note and all.

She'd never been a heavy sleeper. Her tired brain wondered just how his big body and muscled mass hadn't woken her up, his body type wasn't exactly equipped for stealth. She must have been absolutely out of it to sleep through his thundering footsteps.

Her bare feet hit the wooden floor and tiptoed across the soft plush rug, edging closer and closer to the slightly cracked open door. The house was silent, eerily so, not a hum of life drifting through the chilled air or spilling in from the open windows.

The door creaked softly as she opened it, letting her body slip through and make it's way to the staircase. She kept her wits about her, trained ears listening out for any noise or sound, but still nothing. 

She stepped softly down each step. Catching her self on the banister when a searing pain shot through her thighs and abdomen, a lingering reminder of last nights rough encounter. Now that she thought about it, her jaw felt rather stiff too.

She descended the stairs and came around to the open plan bottom floor, the kitchen being the closest space she stepped into first. She bit the inside of her cheek, walking cautiously through his home. Like a deer lost in the keeps of a lions den, frozen in fear with her heart jack-hammering against her weak sternum. She didn't know what to expect. Maybe he'd be in his office, if he even had one? Or away working out? He clearly didn't hold onto that hulking physique from mistreating his body.

Maybe he'd be sat at his dining table, coffee cup flush to his lips as he sipped the boiled brew, reading a page from his book or the morning paper.

He wasn't doing any of those things. He wasn't there.

She continued to tred carefully through the house, popping her head around corners and past doorframes, not even a fleeting sight that he'd been there. It felt strange. They didn't know a single thing about each-other and yet he'd left her all alone, inside his house. She could have been anyone, she could rob him for everything he had or trash his entire place for leaving her alone.

She didn't. She wouldn't. She didn't have it in her.

That thought never even registered in her head, not in a serious tone anyways, she was confused but she understood. It was true, she didn't know a fucking thing about the guy, he was probably just at work doing more important things then entertaining last nights toy. She couldn't exactly blame him.

She just wanted to get out of there. She swallowed the anxiety bubbling in her throat and made her way back upstairs, back to his room to get dressed and leave this whole ordeal behind her. She'd get her money and be gone, never to see or hear from Vic or Kylo again.

She'd failed to notice earlier that her clothes were sat on the tall chest of drawers opposite the bed instead of being stuffed down the side of his nightstand, her floral dress folded neatly with her jacket and shoes sat next to it. Just how long had she been asleep?

She plucked her phone from the dresser too and flicked it on to check the time, eyes bulging out of her skull when she realised it was nearing noon.

The false sundial light spilling over the hill had her thinking it was barely breaking morning, she thanked the gods that she worked nights.

She'd be strewn and quartered if she was late.

She chucked her phone over onto his bed and peeled off his shirt, taking one last long inhale of his earthy cologne that was woven into the fabric. She turned her dress over to locate her underwear but it was nowhere to be found.

Bastard.

She tried to conjure up any logical reason that would lead to her missing bra and panties, she came up short. There was no logical reason that they were gone, and she had a pretty fucking good idea where they were.

Nether the less she had to go. Needed to retreat back to the safety of her lacklustre life, damn this chapter to hell and back.

She slipped the dress on with mumbled curses spilling past her plump lips, cursing Kylo's name to the devil himself, the flowing material slipped easily over her head and reached the mid-length of her thighs. The clear lack of underwear making itself known when a cool kissed breeze blew through the open window, ruffling her skirts and sending a shiver licking up her spine. Her nipples pebbled against the cold wind and cut through the front of her dress like carver diamonds, she bit her lip and cursed again, she just needed to get home as quickly and efficiently as possible.

With the sparsest amount of human contact manageable.

She pulled on her pumps and blush jacket, clinging it too closely around her self with the muggy summer heat that she knew was beating down outside.

She'd rather overheat then poke someone's eye out with her tits, despite her line of work she wasn't a nymphomaniac like people would assume.

She scraped by with the most minimalist amount of contact and physical interaction with her customers, would play hard to get and slap their hands away when they tried to touch her and leave them hanging by a thread when she did instigate a little tease.

Even her sex life beyond work was sparing. That physical itch of hers had been scratched a long time ago, college and university had drawn that natural instinct right out of her. A few too many poorly mixed drinks and a very convincing frat boy or two and she was done for, a fling at a party here and there by nothing more. Even now in her later years she didn't seek sex out, it was the last of her worries.

So why did she wish she'd woken up with him still there?

Danny batted the thought away from her mind as she descended the stairs again, van pumps thudding softly as she rounded through the kitchen.

She skipped through the open plan level and craned her neck over her shoulder when she finally reached his front door, taking one last look at the gorgeous abode that the dark handsome stranger existed within. With a swallowed sigh she let her breathing even out, organ in her chest aching just that tiny inch. The breeze bit at her exposed legs and fluttered up her short dress as she stepped out and shut his front door behind her, air catching in her throat when she felt the cold caress of wind against her still-sore throbbing cunt. Whine barely escaping past her lips as she pressed her thighs together, phantom pleasure wringing her out like a wet soaked cloth.

She leapt away from his door. Feet clapping against the patio concrete as she hurried away from his house, she just needed to get away, let her weak little heart palpitations settle before she had to head off to work. Her shoes crunched atop the rough gravel as she descended down his long drawn out drive away, arriving at the gates and startling when they jolted open before her, still tired eyes squinting then rolling impatiently in her skull when she saw who was waiting for her on the other side.

Deep midnight blue Hugo Boss shirt hugging his wide chest and thickly built arms, the shirt was tucked into a pair of black low rising Saint Laurent slacks, hugging his trimmed hips and accentuating the thick cords of muscle that lay beneath the deep blue cotton. He wore a chunky Breitling blackbird watch on his wrist that glistened off the afternoon sunshine, Cartier sunglasses shading his eyes and that signature devilish smirk tugging at his lips that were wrapped around a pluming cigar.

One leg was folded over the other as he leant against the bonnet of his car and let his neck crane over to where his little Kitten was gawping in the driveway, onyx calfskin leather Exminister shoes scraping the gravel as he stood upright to take a better look at her.

She still stood frozen. Rooted to the spot with a jaded glare tugging at her brow, plump lips thinning out as she bit the inside of her cheek to keep her tongue in check.

"Kitten."

"Vic."

...

It wasn't often that Kylo felt this kind of warmth. The feeling spread through him and took over like a wild fire, striking a match to his bone marrow and burning him from the inside out.

He didn't try to claw his way out of it like he usually would, he let it settle. Gave it a chance. Let that fleeting feeling of something take over if only for a few drawn out minutes.

His broad wide-set shoulders were leant against the headboard as he took in the sight beside him, his little Kitten, face stuffed into one of his pillows with both her forearms resting beneath the duck feather fullness of it to support her head.

Practically purring all the while she slept soundly.

Kylo had been awake for a few hours. Just sitting and thinking, thoughts he'd never wish to share.

Watching her every move as she dreamt, her little mewls and groans when she'd adjust her position or stretch out in her sleep. He'd been woken up by the pure fact she was grabbing at him in her sleep, hands gripping his upper thigh or the swell of his chest, whichever she came to first.

He didn't mind it at all actually. It just took him off guard, he didn't keep women around long enough for them to seek out his warmth while they slept. Never mind a girl he'd simply met and fucked just last night, he was amazed actually, she didn't shy away. Not once. At any given opportunity.

His roughness and his harrowing scars hadn't sucked away even an ounce of her determination.

That was no easy feat. Not many could handle his harsh abrasiveness or his ticking short fuse.

She was still yet to see the real damage he could do.

He checked his phone and it read 7am. Not too bad he thought, he would have allowed himself to sleep some more if he didn't have to worry about the little thing sleeping so soundly next to him.

He had shit to get done today. Yet that slithering selfish trait was moving to rear it's ugly head, whispering in his ear and tainting his thoughts.

He retreated from the bed and attempted to stay as silent as he could, something his line of work had forced him to practice. No good killing for a living if you can't sneak up on folk. He was once told.

His long tree trunk limbs stretched out as he made his way down his stairs, still remaining deathly silent, cracking his tired joints and popping his shoulders to rest back into place.

He ruffled a big hand through the sweat-damp inky tresses that fell into his vision, raking his fingers through them and pinning them back over his head.

He made his way straight through the kitchen and through a wooden door, leading to the pantry that was stacked floor to ceiling with wine, whisky and other fineries, he rooted his way through to a specific stand of wine. Thick green glass bottles filled with juiced grapes and elderberries, the age of the beverage dating all the way back to 1953.

Cost Kylo a damn mint but they were worth every fucking penny. One of his large mitts pushed a bottle or two to the side to reveal a safe, a shallow little thing carved into the wall and hidden behind the rows and rows of expensive wine.

A smirk tugged at his lips as he heard the lock hiss beneath his fingers, pulling it open and retrieving the small vile of liquid that took up little room in the expanse of his palm. He shut the small door and placed the bottles back into place to conceal it, leaving the pantry all together and taking two steps at a time when he retreated back up those stairs.

He rounded the corner to his room and leant one beefy shoulder against the door frame, almost crushing the vile in his hand when he saw the thin cotton sheets were pooled below her waist. He wished he didn't give her that shirt to wear, he'd have given himself an even more irresistible view to wake up to. Although he could still see the the pert roundness of her ass and the way her tits were crushed as she slept on her front, one leg stretched out straight and the other one hiked up to her stomach. Kylo crept around to the foot of the bed, floorboards barely breathing a whisper as he watched her, the rise and fall of her back as she inhaled steadily, her plump cheek crushed into his pillow no doubt leaving a patterned crease against her pale skin. The position of her legs gave him a mouth watering view of the sweet petaled little cunt between her ample thighs, he wanted to pounce, ravish her where she lay. Wake her up with his tongue buried deep in that sweet soaked pussy of hers, grainy moans laced with the rough of sleep spilling past her pretty lips as she came to.

Kylo wanted that.

He cursed that thought away. Burying it deep deep down in the swell of his chest, not letting in breach the daylight fluttering through his windows.

He stepped into his on-suite to locate what he was looking for, grinning when he found it and walking carefully back over to where she slept.

His knees stabbed into the mattress as he knelt beside her, chest hovering over her body as he tipped the contents of the vile onto the cloth he'd retrieved from the bathroom.

He slipped his hand gently around her neck to manoeuvre her face away from the pillow, her features stirred and crumpled slightly as he reset her body to face him. Kylo acted quickly. Pinching her nose and mouth with the soaked cloth in his opposite hand, he watched her face settle again, felt her body grow a little limper against his body.

She'd stay out of it for a good couple more hours now.

Kylo knew it was selfish, it was downright fucking dangerous. But he knew how to use Chloroform, knew it's organic compound like the back of his hand. He's lost count of how many times he's used it over the years, he'd overdosed people with the shitty liquid before. That sweet smell caressing them into a darkness they would never wake up from.

It almost felt wrong using it on Kitten. He just wanted her lingering warmth here a few more hours, just to sate the selfish nature of himself.

He backed away from her and let his eyes cast over her for a little while longer till he peeled himself away, setting the disarray in the room straight from last night's bedsheet ventures. He threw his clothes in the wash basket in his bathroom and redressed into fresh clothes for the day, discarding the box and note still set on his dresser before he noticed her clothes stuffed down the side of his nightstand.

He plucked them from between the gap and took her shoes too, setting and folding them neatly for her to see to later on.

Her lace trimmed underwear fell right to his feet. His knees popped as he crouched down to pick them up and a filthy idea sprouted at the forefront of his mind.

Without even hesitating he stuffed them into the pocket of his charcoal Tom Ford trousers, then moved to hiding her equally as teasing floral- lace bra in the wash basket along with his clothes from last night.

He set her phone beside her clothes and grabbed a jacket from his closet before he turned to leave the room, tan leather Oxfords muffled by the rug as he strode on long legs to his door. His eyes stole a glance once more as he exited the room, still seeing the steady rise and fall of her chest as she slumbered soundly.

The catch of the door clicked as he shut it and moved to leave, not worrying about how loud he was now he'd gifted her a little bit of trichloromethane.

A little Kylo Ren cocktail.

He left the house with a hesitation in his step. Nine grand shoes smothering gravel as he walked to his car, the warmth in his chest dissipating the further he got from his home. He swallowed it down. Didn't care to think about what was crushing his chest, he didn't want or need to care. He was exercising his power by keeping her at his place a little longer, it wasn't because he wanted her there at all.

Or at least that's what he was telling himself.

With her panties still stuffed in his pocket he pulled out a stray cigar and box of matches from his opposite one, settling it between his plump lips and lighting it. Taking a deep heavy drag of the fermented tobacco fumes, it somehow eased his chest, that little tight tugging coil of something falling away with the smog spilling from his lips.

Just as he reached his car his phone rang. He growled when it caught on the fabric of his pocket and he answered it with a bark.

"What?"

"Just calling to see if you enjoyed your present?

I have a return policy if you'd like me to test it's working properly for you?"

Vic crooned teasingly on the end of the line.

Kylo could practically hear his smile.

"Shut the fuck up before I come over there and snap your neck."

He spat back. Meaning every word of it.

"Looks like you really did enjoy her then. Can't remember the last time you didn't let me play with your toys once you'd had your fun."

Vic gifted truthfully. Kylo knew it too.

"I'm too fucking busy for this shit."

The raven haired killer grumbled. Still puffing on his cigar to ease his tensing shoulders.

"Where is she?"

"Asleep."

Vic paused for a moment. Thoughts bashing against his skull as he digested Kylo's words, he'd specifically told her to do her job and get out of there. The last thing he would have expected was for her to still be at his place, sleeping. He knew that she wouldn't have been allowed to stay there uninvited. This was Kylo's doing.

"How the mighty Kylo Ren has fallen. I would have bought her to your attention sooner if I'd have known that's all you needed to feel something again."

Vic nodded. Voice spurring Kylo to grip his phone and cigar a little too hard.

"It's nothing. She's nothing."

He lied.

"Whatever you say. I assume you're on your way to see Hux?"

Vic added. He could tell Kylo was outside from the crunch of his shoes and the deep exhales signalling he was smoking in between speaking. Killers instincts beating through to his domestic life.

"Was going to get shit over with. Get my money and lay low for a few days, get Europe out my system before I take something else on."

He nodded curtly.

"Good idea. Anything I can do? Stray bullet wound still not healed up so can't take anything either."

Kylo was sure Vic had something going on mentally. Most of them at The First Order did. A select group of individuals under contracts to kill, never not kill. They were high priced and highly sought after for a reason. Hux led the field much to Vic and Kylo's dismay, despite his scrawny demeanour and sharp insults he was clever and calculated. Dealt with all the contacts and legalities, left the killing to the real professionals.

The relationship between the two killers went back years, too many to count. Yet Kylo found it amusing that as time dragged on, Vic grew more and more insatiable. And not just for blood. For life.

He couldn't sit still and relax even for a second. Had to keep his clever mind ticking over with anything that would keep him occupied.

"There is something you can do for me."

Kylo told half-heartedly.

"Shoot."

"I need you to take her home safely. She won't be up for a few more hours but I don't want her wondering around my place alone. Too many obvious reasons."

He stated. Slipping into his car and shutting the door.

"I'm not even going to ask what you've given her. I'll swing by in a few and take her home, and don't worry, I'll try my hardest to keep my hands to myself."

Vic grinned. Chuckling down the phone.

"Watch it."

He warned.

"See you later. Kylo."

The line cut off and Kylo chucked his phone onto the front seat. One hand gripping the wheel and one hand shoving the key into the ignition, all the while balancing his cigar snug between his lips.

He revved the engine and pulled out across the gravel, watching his house grow smaller and smaller in his rearview mirror as he neared his front gates.

What the fuck am I doing? He thought.

...

"I could have walked."

She huffed. Folding her arms over her chest as she watched the world roll by at a little too fast through the car window.

"I thought you'd be incapable of doing so after last night."

Vicrul quipped. Eyes darting to her body sitting idly beside him from the peripherals of his expensive shades.

"You sound like you speak from experience."

She bit out. A smug little smile tugging at the side of her lips.

"Careful Kitten."

He warned.

She huffed in response. Taking her warning and returning her gaze to the window, watching buildings and shops blur past in the blink of an eye.

"Want me to take you home? Or you got somewhere else to be? Let me take you out to lunch. My treat."

His tone was softer. Gentler.

She considered his offer for a moment, timid body jolting when she felt a warm hand caress her naked thigh, ever so slightly flying up an inch so her dress bunched up over her pale smooth skin. She didn't shy away. She steadied herself, not giving him any reason to retract their deal.

"Money's already in your account Kitten."

He looked at her fully this time. Taking his trained eyes off the road for a split second to drink in the soft angles of her face before facing forward again.

"T-Thank you."

She whispered. Trying not to squirm under his hand and shimmy it further up to where she so desperately wanted it to be.

Perhaps imagining it wasn't Vic's hand at work.

His fingers dug into the flesh of her thigh purposely. Egging her on to say what he wanted to hear.

"Lunch sounds good."

She squeaked. Smiling meekly up at him.

She wasn't afraid of him. Not by a long shot. But she knew better then to get herself in over her head, she'd seen his type before. On too many occasions.

He was a shaded individual with a sparse amount of light shedding onto his life, but from the very moment she set eyes on him at the club she knew that he could be capable of filthy wicked things. Not just in the bedroom sense. It was the way he carried himself, the way he lounged back in that tub chair like he fucking owned the place. He very much could if he wanted to, not everyone had ten grand going spare to spoil their friend with a warm body for their birthday. So for now she'd play nice, enrich herself in this little cat and mouse game for as long as he stayed amused.

"Good girl"

He husked. Sharp smile tugging up as he rushed the car into a faster gear, quickly cutting off down a different street then the one that led to her apartment.

Danny's mind didn't even catch onto the fact that Vicrul had known where she lived without her having to direct him there. Her mind was too focussed on the hand that returned to her thigh as they continued driving, he didn't let his mitts leave her skin until they parked up outside one of the most lavish Italian restaurants this side of Brooklyn.

Vic had already leapt out of the car and rounded to the passenger side to open the door for her, outstretching his free hand for her to take, which she did.

A cold breeze fluttered through her dress and hiked it up past her thighs as she stepped one leg out, she squeaked and gripped Vic's fingers harder. His eyes didn't miss the sight of her bare naked cunt as the wind exposed it, he couldn't take his eyes away until she panicked and smacked the folds of her dress back down in mortification. Letting go of his hand and skipping past him and up towards the front of the restaurant, cheeks and chest tinged a rosy pink with embarrassment.

It was a good job Vic had his shades on. Hiding the glossy cloud of hunger that threatened to drown him as he stood there on the sidewalk, car door still hung open from where he was frozen to the spot.

Kylo you dirty fucking dog. He thought to himself.

...

"A job well done, Ren. I've heard nothing from the soviets, looks like you did good to keep this one under the radar."

Armitage Hux spoke stiffly. Almost down his nose at the man seated directly across from him. Big body slumped in the wooden desk chair that was much to shallow for him to fit comfortably into, leaning back with one ankle resting over the opposite knee. Stature completely unfazed by the ginger individual spitting nonsense at him. Those deep obsidian eyes of his concealed by his designer shades, facial features not giving up an inch to show just how truly pissed off he was. He wanted to be in and out, less of the idle chit chat and obscene bollocking as Hux continued on.

"You been letting Vic bone you again while I've been away?"

Kylo questioned. Voice as stoic and stern as ever.

Hux practically choked on his own spit, air catching in his throat as his face turned beet red. A mixture of embarrassment and anger simmering away as his face contorted into a deathly glare.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything."

He seethed through gritted bleached teeth.

"I don't see what my past has to do with anything either, yet here you are still bringing it up years later. Eye for an eye Hugs."

His voice not even beginning to breach anger as he spoke, he was quite impressed with his quip.

"My personal sex life is a very different matter to your mass fuck ups, I don't put the entire order in jeopardy with who I sleep with unlike you killing random drug users you stumble across on the streets."

He growled. Clearly ticked off with what circumstance the killer had bought up.

"Careful Armitage. Last time you used that tone with me I had to pay for your hospital fees."

He reminded. Tipping one inky brow in a silent threat.

"I think we're done here."

He stated. Slim pale fingers collecting a stack of papers off his desk and shucking them against the polished wood a few times to straighten them out.

"I think we are."

Kylo retorted. Moving to a stand and digging his wallet out of his jacket pocket, plucking a sleek silver card from one of the slits and flicking it across the desk at Hux.

"Pay me into this. I expect the money in my account by tonight."

The raven haired hitman didn't hang around to hear Hux's protests or objections, a few long legged strides and he was clear of the office. Letting the heavy door slam behind him as he rounded a dark corner.

He still had Kitten on his mind. He had all day.

Her cunt was calling out to him and he wanted nothing more then to succumb to it, reel her in and catch her hook, line and sicker. He'd never let that sweet pussy out of his sight if he had the chance, that wavering little innocent streak of hers needed to be snuffed out. It was practically begging to be shattered at the hands of Kylo Ren, he felt obligated.

His next job. Make Kitten his and only his.

He'd ruin her for any other man to take.

It wasn't just an ache in his groin anymore, it was taking over his entire being. That clever calculated brain of his was nothing but mush since last night, his thoughts were trained on her. Just her.

Her cunt, her hips, her thighs, her little hands all over him, her plush tits and plump ass. Those eyes.

He regretted not taking that fucking blindfold off sooner. They chewed him up and spit him out.

He'd do the same to her. Prove that he wasn't weak for thinking of her, he'd leave her spent and unable to think of or feel anything but him.

He was going to fucking destroy her. And he'd make sure she'd enjoy every fucking second of it.

....

Danny's lunch breezed by with minimal hitches. She settled her straining nerves and found she actually enjoyed herself. Vic was good company. Despite his endless innuendos and sexual quips he was genuinely charming, treated her with so much respect and kindness as soon as they set foot into the lavish Italian elegance that was Del Posto.

The vision and aroma was dripping with sophistication and homely Italian features, the smell of freshly baked ciabatta and homemade tomato sauces seasoned with fresh garlic and basil sprigs.

The entire establishment had her feeling completely out of place, chandeliers and candle lit cotton table dressings, sets of twining stairs flagging either side of the room, an open bar that was dressed in iridescent green lighting and stained glass.

It was gorgeous. And she stuck out like a sore thumb.

Silly little frill dress riding up her thighs as she was seated, her van pumps assaulting the soft velvet carpet as she walked across it with her arm hooked around the crook of Vic's elbow, not to mention her lack of undergarments. She felt like she was sweating, perspiration licking at her exposed skin and sheening her anxieties for everyone to see.

Vicrul didn't take his hands off her. Wether he let the expanse of his hand guide her along on the small of her back or had her little arm hooked around his. His foot was touching hers the entire meal, gently reminding her he was there. Like she could forget about a man as handsome as him sitting straight across from her, chiseled features and unruly ash blonde hair sweeping across his brow. He was charming, witty and had a smirk that could drop anyone's panties. Danny couldn't deny it.

Her eyes didn't miss the wandering gazes of women and men alike from across the establishment, wether they were already seated or drinking at the bar, all their attention was drawn to him. He basked in it.

He didn't need to let his eyes find theirs to know they were staring. He just knew.

He pulled out her chair for her and let her get seated before he took his own chair, taking the liberty of ordering them both some of the finest wine the restaurant had to offer. Vic tugged the wine menu away from her before she could investigate the price of said wine.

He told her to order whatever she wanted, his treat for his little Kitten. That notion alone had her ordering the cheapest thing on the menu, which still toppled in at three-figures, she opted for a salmon dish, delicate fish charcoal roasted with broccolini and almond vinaigrette.

Vic on the other hand, didn't hold back. A twenty-eight day dry aged ribeye with potato, black truffle and chicories would suffice. He knew it would pair beautifully with the wine he'd just ordered.

They made chit chat as they waited for their food and sipped on too much wine. Much to Danny's surprise, Vic didn't pry about last night, didn't so much as even acknowledge it. He made her feel human, asked about her life outside of her work. She explained everything to him, she had nothing to hide, she told him exactly why she was in the situation she was.

She was just trying to pay off her debts.

Despite Vicrul already knowing most of what she was admitting to him, he let her speak. Let her get everything of her chest, he didn't interrupt or belittle her, just listened. Something he didn't do often.

The thought of her struggle struck something deep within himself, he could clear her debts and his bank account wouldn't even feel it, wouldn't so much as even put a dint in his income. But the honest part of himself knew she wouldn't be so willing to take it, she'd feel like she needed to do something for him in return to earn the money he was offering. She'd assume he'd want to have her like Kylo already had, but that wasn't his intentions. He was simply giving her something that no one ever had.

A chance.

They drowned more wine and sank another bottle through dinner. Danny's palate exploded with the exotic flavours of Europa Italy, a splash of sugar lemon cutting through the acidity of the vinaigrette. The fish was so flakey and melted on her moist tongue, gorgeous flavours melting together and caressing her tastebuds with sensations she'd never experienced before.

Vic devoured the red meat with little effort, offering Kitten a mouthful of the succulent blood red steak before he polished the whole thing off, she moved forward to take the fork from him but his piercing steel green eyes warned her otherwise.

"Open up Kitten."

He gifted in a hushed whisper. Pearly canines catching the dim light of the restaurant as he grinned like a daft idiot.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. So wanting to roll her eyes and scoff at him, but her body betrayed her. Chest leaning forward over the table and lips parting to allow the forkful of weeping aged ripeye to be placed on her waiting tongue.

The flavour encompassed her palette and it was a whole new group of flavours, he watched her chew and swallow the little morsel down and he definitely didn't miss it when she wiped the pad of her finger across the corner of her lip to gather some stray sauce from it, sucking the tip of her finger clean mindlessly as Vic grew painfully hard under the table.

Minx. He cursed to himself.

"What did you think?"

He queried. Watching her sip down the remaining slither of vibrant red wine left in her shallow glass.

Her lips sounded a wet pop as she removed her glass from them, tipsy gloss sea foam eyes meeting his steel green ones.

"Delicious Vic, thank you. Please let me pay my way, it's no trouble."

Not with the heavy sum of money now sat in her bank. Or at least that's what she thought.

Vicrul didn't have the heart to tell her that the wine alone wouldn't be covered by it.

"It's no trouble. My treat remember, Kitten."

The skin of his stubbled cheek flared as her lips pressed a tender kiss to it, soft skin of her plump lips meeting his tough flesh.

"Thank you, Vic. For all of it."

She chimed. Dimples creasing beside her ivory smile.

He knew what she meant. Didn't need to ask her to elaborate. He knew she wouldn't be writing home about how she'd secured such a large some of money, it was definitely going to top the list of things she wanted to never speak of again. Much like working at the the strip club or that time she'd very nearly gotten arrested for best friend's stash of weed. Vic wouldn't bring that up just yet. Maybe later.

"It's not a problem, Kitten."

....

Vicrul pulled his silver BMW i8 into a parking space opposite Danny's place. He let her give him directions like he didn't already know where she lived, what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

He mimicked his prior gesture and hopped out to open her door for her, she climbed out with a hushed thank you, letting him walk her across the street to the foot of her building. He kept his hand on the small of her back the entire awkward little walk, keen steely eyes watching for traffic as he ushered her small body forward. Her building was a humbled minuscule set of apartments, nothing lavish or expensive with her student wage. It was substantial for basic living while she wracked up her savings and settled her college debts, it was her happy little space. A place she could hang her art with no shame and create many more pieces that involved making more mess then she could clean up, it was her escape. 

They reached the foot of the building and climbed the few steep steps that led to the lobby-like bottom floor. Concealed behind two large glass doors that required a key card to get in.

The shallow heels of his expensive calfskin leather shoes hit the concrete steps with loud claps, while her cheap little pumps barely made a scuff.

She turned towards him and he did the same to her, silver-green eyes still concealed behind his sunglasses while he tipped his nose down to look at her. Her little neck had to crane slightly to meet his eye, he was as tall as he was broad; a mighty wall of a man.

"Thank you for everything Vic, I truly am. Maybe I'll see you at the club sometime? For the time being, thanks to you I don't think I'll have to stay much longer."

She smiled up at him as she spoke. A genuine breath of fresh air smile. Her eyes crinkled and her dimples folded as her pearly straight teeth glinted in the light. Pretty little Kitten.

He smiled back at her. Brute fingers rubbing his stubbled chin as he watched her, weighing up his next move very carefully.

"Thank you for letting me help you Kitten. It's good to know we've done each other a favour." 

He bought his calloused fingers up to grace her neck, letting the expanse of his palm caress the side of her throat as he looked at her and she looked at him. Drinking each other in with the spill of afternoon sunshine drowning the both of them in a honey-amber glow, her glossy sea foam eyes glowing at him with those pretty little lips parted, wet and sweet.

Sweet sweet sweet. That's all he tasted when he finally dipped his head down and crashed his lips against hers, the sweet tang of sugary red wine and the sour lemon that coated her tongue as he slipped his wet muscle over hers. Her eyes widened momentarily before fluttering shut, her dainty little fingers attempting to wrap around his thick wrist as his thumb stroked softly over her cheek and jaw. His free hand slithered around her waist to pull her body flush to his, not caring how publicly he was fondling her at this point, took a handful of her ass and kneaded it in his big palm, she squeaked against his parted lips but that only gave his tongue more room to take over her mouth. If she was already tipsy from the wine then she was paralytic drunk at this point, knees threatening to give way when she felt the clear evidence of his excitement against her tummy.

He pulled away from her with a wet smack, letting his teeth tease and drag against her bottom lip as he pulled away.

He straightened back up, hooded eyes drinking in her wet kiss-swollen lips and her rose tinted cheeks.

His thumb brushed over the apple of her cheek one last time before he relieved her of his touch and stepped down towards descending the stairs.

"Be seeing you soon, Kitten."

He called over his shoulder when he reached the bottom of the steps, devilishly dark smirk pulling at his features as he crossed the street.

Danny stood and watched from her spot atop the steps, body frozen yet humming at the same time. Her skin was scolded from his touch and she felt cold without it, like an ice-cube in a glass of lukewarm fruit tea that's been left out in the muggy sun for too long.

She didn't stop looking until he'd pulled away and driven out of sight, beastly engine roaring and echoing of the empty streets.

She swallowed. Be seeing you soon, Kitten.

She didn't take that as a see you around maybe. His words were a promise. She knew that now.

Vicrul Ren was rigorously honest.

Danny didn't register the time between swiping her key card over the front door and arriving at the threshold of her apartment. It was a blur of steady footsteps masked by her thundering heartbeat ringing in her ears, lungs dragging heavily on oxygen as she tried to make sense of what happened outside just moments ago. The way his full lips felt against hers and the feeling of his arm twined around her waist, she was reeling from it and she didn't understand why.

Her keys jangled in her fingers as she shoved it into the sticky lock and gave it a few tugs, her daily ritual when entering her ancient apartment, the interior may have been brand new by her own hands but the trimmings certainly needed an update. She swung the door open and kicked it closed behind her with her foot, turning her shoulders to discard her jacket on a hangar and throw her keys on the wooden chest by the door. She took her phone out and saw she still had a good few hours before work, she could clean up and maybe even nap before her shift.

Scrub away the events of the last two day's and start afresh, maybe even write a draft of her resignation letter. That thought excited her most. 

She stepped further into her apartment and noted immediately how cold it was, a steady afternoon breeze was blowing through her sheer magnolia curtains and bringing the chill in with it. Her brows furrowed and she stepped over to the window and pulled the wooden frame down, banishing the cold back outside as she let her mind wander back to yesterday afternoon. She'd definitely shut it, that pesky stray cat Tiger was always sneaking in when she left the damn thing open. She blew the thought away, pinning her forgetfulness down to the nerves of last night.

She pulled up Paige's number on her phone and dialled it, bringing the phone to her ear and walking her way back through to the living room. She cast her eyes up from the laminated wooden floor and froze, blood running cold in her veins and ceasing her pulse from the speed it was thrumming at.

The phone dropped from her hand and clattered to the floor, just catching on the edge of her cream rug and keeping it from smashing to pieces, she didn't hear Paige's voice when she finally answered.

Calling Danny's name out into the silence of her now ice cold apartment.

"Might want to answer her, Kitten."


	6. 𝙳𝙾𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙰𝚃𝙴

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Wrong answer."

Kylo's eyes were like icy shards of obsidian black flint. Razor focussed on Kitten stood silently frozen in front of him. Ash silver locks mussed and those pretty little lips; swollen and pert. Her eyes were blown wide with surprise and perhaps a dash of fear, fear of the unknown. Anticipation bubbled in her belly and her voice was caught in her throat, unable to quiz the hulking figure sat idly on one of her couches.

Paige's voice still ricocheted off the walls and filtered through the silence. Falling deaf to Danny's ears, her senses were too over taken with the man in front of her to notice the world spinning around her.

Kylo stood. Shoulders and neck cracking as he stepped forward, one knee bending as he retrieved her phone from it's cursed spot on the floor.

"She'll call you back."

He growled down the phone before ending the call, not letting Paige so much as question what was going on. Dark eyes met hers of sea foam green head on, locked in a deadly stare as he came closer and closer.

They were almost chest to chest, he crowded her right back until the small of her back hit her kitchen counter top, sharp edge of it digging uncomfortably into her spine causing her to wince. He was suffocating her, his presence sucked the air right out of her lungs and his silence made her ears numb. Her fingers gripped the counter when his hands slammed right onto the surface of it, caging her between his thick arms as he leant in, real nice and close. His prominent nose traced along her pulse point, taking in deep drags of her scent, she still smelt of him and his cologne.

Sandalwood, citrus and expensive cotton.

But she smelt of something else too.

A deep guttural growl vibrated through his throat, Danny could feel the tremors of it from how close he was. His searing furnace of a body threatening to singe her pale skin if he got too close. His big hand shot up, gripping the side of her neck and better exposing her soft supple throat to him, teasing those plump lips of his across her sensitive ivory skin. It made her shiver, jelly knees and burning abdomen taking over her nerve endings.

"I've been waiting for you Kitten. And I fucking hate being kept waiting."

He grumbled against her skin. Savouring the taste and smell of her, committing it to his memory.

She whined when she felt his hot tongue leave his mouth, licking one long wet stripe up the length of her dainty neck. The tangy salt and sugar sweet of her being his new favourite flavour, bar her pretty little cunt of course.

"I was...I was b-busy."

She whispered. Little fingers now fisting into the fabric of the expensive shirt that covered his chest, she could feel his hot skin even through the lavish material, she could feel the hard planes of muscle she'd had her hands all over just last night.

He stilled. Craning his neck up to meet her eyes while he still worked on teasing her supple skin with his teeth, hard eyes and furrowed brows piercing into her very soul.

"What could possibly be more important then this right now Kitten."

He breathed hotly against her neck. Sucking a blossoming mark there hereafter.

"Vic and I, we went-"

The air blew from her lungs and silenced her speech when her spine was contorted, bent backwards with her spine flush against the countertop.

"I don't want to hear his fucking name from that pretty little mouth of yours, angel."

He hummed as he loomed over her, dragging his mouth and nose along her collarbone as he took another deep inhale of her scent.

"You fucking smell like him too. I hate it."

Kylo's growl vibrated through his chest and onto Danny's sternum, he was pressing himself so close she was sure he'd feel the violent thundering of her heart against her fluttering chest.

"I-I...I'm."

She babbled. Mind swimming and chest heaving as his spare hand trailed up her thigh, bunching the short skirt of her dress against her hip bone when he let his big palm engulf her skin. Grinning sharply against her neck when he felt the lack of panties hugging her hips, his lips fluttered against her jaw as a deep ragged breath spilled past his lips, painfully hard cock rubbing for friction as he felt her smooth supple skin under his rough hand.

"So pretty Kitten. Every last fucking inch."

His fingers crept down, leading towards her naked already-soaked cunt, her body was betraying her. She wanted to push him away and tell him no, tell him the truth about the money and the deal with Vic. This was a one night thing. It was over. 

But her body wouldn't let her protest. She was putty in his hand, a pile of boneless mush against the hard structure of his frame. He could do with her as he pleased. They both knew that.

His calloused fingers skimmed her clit, catching the juices that pooled out of her and ran in rivulets down the inside of her thighs. Those soft pliable thighs he was salivating for, all his. She whined his name, bit down on her bottom lip to keep herself from wailing it. Pretty sea-green eyes screwing shut as he let his fingers brush against her again.

He whispered filthy things into the shell of her ear as he plunged two-deft fingers into her dripping pussy, curling them around to catch on that one spot that he knew would drive her to orgasm. She was throwing jumbled sentences at him, unable to piece together a coherent set of words that would sound intelligible to his trained ears. 

"Speak up Kitten."

He stilled for a moment. Big fingers still curled inside her but ceasing any motion, his warm exhales still fanning her throat.

"Kylo I-I can't.."

She whispered in a hushed mouse tone. Dropping her chin to her chest so he couldn't meet her eye. 

She wanted this so badly. So badly. But she knew this sort of thing never ended well. For her at least.

"Too bad. You can. And you will."

He punctuated his darkened words by pumping his fingers deeper, practically wrenching her body up by his hand. She moaned aloud, fingers gripping onto his thick wrist as he drove his fingers in and out of her, curling and twisting inside her throbbing cunt.

Her forehead hit the width of his shoulder as she tried to muffle her obscene noises, drown them out in the cushioned cotton of Kylo's shirt.

"Please."

She begged in something akin to a sob. Pussy fluttering around his fingers and tears stinging her vision.

"Give me one good reason Kitten."

He spat into her ear. Teeth grinding as he fought the urge to wrench her off the countertop and throat fuck her there and then.

"I kissed Vic."

Her voice was so quiet she barely heard it herself. It cracked and sounded nothing like her, she sounded pathetic.

The only way she knew he'd heard her was the fact he ceased all motion. Fingers and mouth stilling as he sucked in a sharp breath, teeth clenched so hard they could splinter and crack. He wrenched his body away from hers, roughly pulling his fingers to sting her tender flesh. He paced backwards, dark eyes growing even more so, like pits of black acid watching her intently. She must have looked a state. Ass perched on her kitchen counter top with her dress pooling over her bare hips, eyes strewn wet, hair disheveled and lips kiss swollen from her traitorous act earlier.

Kylo widened his stance. Stood just shy of the sofa arm, his chest grew in size and he widened his shoulders, making himself look all the more menacing. One tap of his polished shoe and she was bought to attention again, one calloused finger extended out to the floor in front of his feet.

"Here. Now."

Danny slipped down from the counter. Steps as light as a feather as her pumps hit the tile, she didn't move toward him right away. She didn't even know why she had let that information slip, it meant nothing to her and it certainly meant nothing to Kylo.

"You'll be sorry if I have to start counting Kitten."

He warned. Tapping his foot again to reiterate where he wanted her to be at this precise moment.

"Kylo I'm serious. I can't-"

"Oh I'm being pretty fucking serious too angel."

He growled through gritted teeth. Any patience he had left was well and truly thrown out the window.

Danny swallowed. Shuffling forward on her feet until she neared closer to him, hot waves of his cologne hitting her senses and blinding her to her current situation.

"Knees."

He commanded.

She complied. Sinking to her knees with the laminate floor pattern digging into the skin of her shins.

"Good girl."

He cooed. Devilish smirk pulling at his features betraying his tone.

"Good girls get rewards Kitten."

He asserted. The metal buckle of his belt jangled as he pulled it free, letting it drape to the side as he worked on his zipper. In a flash he dipped down, tugging one of her limp hands from it's resting place on her thigh to put it exactly where he needed it.

"I'm all yours."

He muttered. Wrapping his fingers around hers to get his throbbing cock free as quickly as possible.

She couldn't hold his gaze as she worked at removing his slacks, letting him shuck them down his thighs as she got to his briefs next. The pads of her finger tips skimmed across the skin of his hips as she pulled his boxers down, hard weeping red-angry cock springing free just inches away from her face. She let her eyes flicker up to his for a split second, dark amber-burnt hues catching the afternoon sunbeams and spearing right through her.

She wet her lips. Bringing her head forward and letting her tongue caress him from base to head. Wet muscle of hers teasing the smooth velvety skin of Kylo's cock, veiny, leaking pre-cum and begging to be sucked by his Kitten. His big deft fingers rooted into her scalp, hips snapping forward to spear his dick harshly to the back of her throat. She gagged. Choked on his girth and length when it felt like he thrust himself all the way to the base of her neck, her mouth was so impossibly full. Wet-salt tears spearing her eyes as she raised her shaky hands, bracing herself against his defined angular hips.

"You're a filthy little thing Kitten."

He barked out. Both hands now wrenching at her hair and scalp as he fucked his way down her throat, her moans vibrated right through his skin and sent a cold shiver to his bones. Made his skin prickle with goosebumps as he let his head fall back, eyes rolling in his skull when he relished in just how fucking good it felt to be in Kitten's mouth. She was weeping around his cock again, humming and drooling as she tried her best to take all of him. He liked that she got brave, tried to swallow his monster cock down that tiny gullet of hers, let her nails bite into the skin of his hips as she felt him begin to pulse and throb against her pallet.

He was close. Too fucking close.

He tugged his cock away from her, tore her from the floor and spun her way too fast for her already foggy mind to comprehend. The front of her thighs hit the arm of the sofa and Kylo pushed her forwards, her torso landing curved against the angle of the couch. Lower half dangling over the arm and suspended in the air, the fluttered floral skirts of her dress completely exposing her below the waist to his hungry eyes. She tried to squirm away but he was far too fast, two big mitts gripping the pliable flesh of her ass and pulling her cheeks apart. Everything she had to offer practically served to him on a silver platter, he could have her seven-ways to Sunday and there wasn't a fucking thing she could do to stop him. Not that she wanted to.

He wasn't going to bother warming her up. Didn't want to waste his efforts having her cum on his tongue or fingers first, he needed release and he'd get it. Show her what happened when he was disobeyed, after this he'd drill a set of rules into her skull. Make sure he didn't have a repeat of today ever again.

He felt her jolt under his hand when he freed his other hand to fist his throbbing cock, teasing it between her soaked folds and letting the blunt head plunge between her cheeks.

"Kylo- I don't think-don't please."

She whined. Dainty little fingers gripping the rough crushed texture of the couch she was strewn across, chest crushed against it and straining her intake of fresh oxygen. She thought he was going to take her analy, plunge into her with too much brute force and tear her apart. That's what real punishment was. He'd save that for another time. Right now he wanted to get back into that tight throbbing little pussy he so favoured after only one taste.

"Just taking my time Kitten. Relax."

She tried to. She really did. She felt so embarrassed being exposed to him like this, last night had been different. So different. She had been prepared last night, ready to let go of whatever needed to be cut away the next morning. That money would help her get away and start fresh. It wasn't suppose to go like this. He wasn't suppose to be here.

Danny cried obesely when he sheathed himself in her cunt, squeezing him tight and hot as he raked his enormous length through her slick wet lips, she could feel every ridge and vein of his dick as he snapped his hips to meet her ass. Skin slapping skin and dirty wet sloshing sounds echoing through the sun bitten room along with her muffled moans and Kylo's praises.

"So fucking tight Kitten. Shit."

He struggled through gritted teeth. Swallowing his groans of pleasure as he nailed her into the plush sofa she was sloped across, the damn thing scuffed across the floor with how hard Kylo was going at it, sending ripples of pleasure and jolts of his vitality straight through her.

She was squeezing the living shit out of him, soft-sweet walls of her cunt fluttering around him as he didn't let up his speed, taking fistfuls of any skin he could grapple onto. She'd bruise there for sure.

"Kylo I'm close- so fucking close."

She whined. Head lolling around like a loose screw as her mouth gaped, her moans running silent as her orgasm began to build. A tight burning coil brewing in her abdomen as Kylo fucked her into oblivion. 

"Cum for me Kitten. Cum all over my cock. Want to feel you ring me dry for everything I got."

He urged. Biting off his syllables as his head rolled back over his shoulders, voice struggling to stay quiet as he let a deep growl run ramped through his throat.

She arched her back into him. Pushing her hips to meet his as she spurred herself on, letting herself get lost in the blissful pleasure that was Kylo Ren. She couldn't help it, she couldn't deny him even is she wanted to. He had a firm grasp on her in both the literal and metaphorical sense, such darkness in his eyes had her falling at his feet.

At his every beck and call. Ready to be defiled and used.

Kylo pressed forward. Snaking a thick arm around her waist to attack her clit, skimming over the bundle of nerves and sending her tense little body into complete overdrive. She screamed and cried, incoherent words that sounded along the lines of chiming gods name along with Kylo's.

She should have called out to Satan himself. He would have been better then the crude killer currently spearing her on his monstrous cock.

She shattered. Wailing his name as she came hard. He didn't stop there. Chasing his own impending release as he continued to thumb harshly at her clit, pinching and squeezing it roughly between his fingers as he continued to plough her through her orgasm.

"Gooood girl Kitten. Take it all. Let me hear those pretty noises you make, just for me."

He huffed lowly into her ear as he pressed his chest to her spine. Fucking her with as much vigour as he had begun with, not letting his pace slip even when he felt his own orgasm send his balls taught. 

He came not longer after her. Using the rest of his energy and stamina to bury himself completely to the hilt inside of her, trimmed tuft of ebony pubic hair rasping against the smooth of her ass with just how deep he was reaching. He swore he'd never cummed so hard in his life, stray veins pulsing from his forehead and his pulse leaping out of his jugular. His whole body felt uncomfortably tight right up until he filled her sobbing cunt with thick ropes of his silky cum. It oozed out of her and stained her thighs as he rode out his high, she was practically weeping at this point. Overstimulated and fatigued.

Little body spent with his cum and her reeling orgasm.

He groaned and pulled out of her, watched her jolt as he eased himself out and didn't let his eyes break away from their intertwined orgasms pooling down her dripping pussy and smearing across her thighs.

He'd commit this mouthwatering sight to memory.

Just incase.

He stepped back and stuffed himself away, doing up his belt and straightening himself out. Rubbing deft fingers to rake his hair back out of his vision, sharp eyes watching Kitten intently as she slumped backwards. Didn't even try and catch herself when her legs wobbled and she sagged to the floor, knees splayed either side of her body and no doubt causing her to leave a mess on the hardwood floor.

Kylo watched her with pity. Burnt-cinder irises finally setting sights on her face again. Flushed red cheeks and wild hair, glossy eyes rimmed with fallen tears and those pretty rose lips parted slightly to accompany the ragged-rushed breaths that spilled from her lungs. Still pretty even when she was all mussed and disheveled.

"Look at me."

He told. Voice raspy and hushed from his lack of breath.

She did. Because of course she did. This man could ask her to jump of the Empire State Building and she would. He was a different class to her. She couldn't match him, never in this lifetime. He was a man that lived to be served, she was a girl who wanted to feel like she had a purpose, something dark and sinister growing in her gut the more she thought about him.

She wanted to be the one to serve his needs. 

Her glossy sea-bream eyes met his. His stare was cold and sharp, looking down his nose at her as he cocked his head. Taking in the angles of her face and just looking, letting his eyes settle on every feature they could reach. He towered over her in every sense of the word, hands rooted deep in his pockets as he considered her.

She let her gaze fall away, the very thing she feared was coming true. He'd fucked her for the sake of it, broken into her home to scare and violate her because he knew she'd take it. Kylo knew she wouldn't say no, knew she couldn't. He'd used that to his advantage and come here fuck her and leave again.

She felt tears brimming in her eye, bottom lip wobbling as he fingers nails scraped into the flesh of her thighs. The sting of pain bringing her back to the harsh looming reality that was standing over her.

She noted the crease of his slacks as he crouched down in-front of her, thick index finger hooking under her chin to force her to look at him. She was too weak to jerk her head away from him, physically and mentally by this point.

"Don't mess with things you can't understand kitten. If I hear that Vic's been anywhere near you again then punishments will be in order. For both of you."

He cautioned. Honey-golden eyes glinting.

That set her off. Like a match lighting a spark of fire deep within her chest, she set her jaw and jerked it away from him. Brows furrowing and neck craning back to put more distance between the two of them.

She'd fight this. That stupid fluttering feeling in her belly that was striking up a deathly concoction between the two men currently invading her life.

She wasn't about to get dragged into something she had no place being involved in. She wanted out.

"I don't plan on seeing either of you from now on."

She reassured. Steely eyes cutting into Kylo's.

His face never changed. Didn't even twitch with a hint of anger or amusement, cold and stern through and through as he moved to stand. Stuffing his hands back into his pockets and backing away, wide expanse of muscle not softening an inch as he retreated to her front door. She watched him the entire time, not letting her eyes leave his frame for a split second.

"Take it easy. Danny."

...

The rest of her day flew by in a few blinks of her tired-sore eyes. She didn't sleep like she had hoped. Her brain was far too busy to allow her body to drift on into a peaceful slumber, she simply needed a few hours to let her body catch up with itself. She wouldn't have looked like she'd been dug out of a grave by the time she got to work if she was able to nap, she was too caught up with a certain two men plaguing her mind.

She tried to sketch in one of her art pads for a while but even that proved futile, she just couldn't concentrate. One scolding hot shower later with her supple skin rubbed completely raw from how hard she'd scrubbed at herself, and it was time to get ready for work. She desperately wanted to call in sick, cool her mind and her senses before she had to face anyone.

She mentally slapped herself when she saw her reflection in the mirror for the first time in nearly 48 hours, her neck and the underside of her jaw were littered with blossoming red-purple bruises and just like she'd thought Kylo did manage to bruise her hips too. She'd have a hard time covering this up considering she was practically naked while she worked, her cheap concealer did the bare minimum to cover up the marks he'd left. Danny just had to hope that it was dark in the club tonight. Another mortifying realisation hit her when she figured she must have been covered in bruises when she went for lunch with Vic, he'd walked her into one of the fanciest restaurants in New York looking like a backstreet hooker. Maybe that's all she was. Good for nothing but pleasing men she didn't even know just for a bit of cash. She hated that fact.

She splotched a thick layer of makeup over the bruises and just hoped it wouldn't run, the last thing she needed was for the girls to ask her where she got them. They'd know exactly how they were put there.

Once she was freshened up and ready to go she collected her jacket and slipped on her pumps, slinging her back over her shoulder and stepping over to her door. Her stomach was completely in knots and she felt sick, she needed to get tonight over with and get a good amount of sleep afterwards. Reset her plaguing anxiety and swallow down any of her concerns, she meant what she said, she didn't want to see either of them again. She needed to banish them from her thoughts and move on. Take that money and run towards that dream of hers that was so damn close she could taste it.

She drove to work in the clanky old car her uncle had gifted her before she left for college, it stalled too often and was barely holding it's welding but it was all hers. A parting gift from a dear relative.

Danny pulled into the back parking lot at around 7, thankfully her shift wouldn't keep her too late tonight. She'd hopefully be able to serve on the bar for a few hours and get out of there without a hitch.

She stepped out of her car and walked towards the private door located just around the back of the building, clutching her letter of resignation tightly to her chest and attempting to settle her wavering nerves. This was it. She would finally be free of this place, she'd grown to love the people there and some days she didn't mind the work. But she knew deep down that this wasn't the life for her, she needed more, deserved more. She'd worked too hard for this.

The heavy steel fire exit door clanked loudly behind her, making her jolt due to her already unsettled nerves as the sound echoed down the stretch of hallway. She blew out a relieved breath, pumps scuffing against the rough carpet as she made her way to the back changing room.

Paige wasn't working tonight. Much to Danny's dismay, she hadn't plucked up the courage to call her back just yet. Afraid she'd crack if she had to explain what had happened earlier, she'd call her tomorrow and tell her it was nothing, come up with any solid lie that would come across at least that tiny bit believable. She was almost hurt that Paige hadn't come round, she thought the gruff sounding man growling down the phone might have elicited some fear for her friend. And yet, nothing.

She figured it wasn't in Paige's nature to worry. That girl could have more STDs then she could count on her fingers and she wouldn't be the least bit concerned, she didn't give a fuck about anything.

On more then one occasion Danny had wished she was more like that, not letting her doubts and anxieties overrun her life forever, she was perhaps too cautious. Never got behind on payments for the fear of debt or let her hair down too often because she had to think of her art. She was boring. Safe.

Another thing Danny couldn't understand. When she was all that, why did Kylo and Vic seem so enthralled? She assumed they were buttering her up only to dump her on her ass the next day with a wod of cash thrown in her lap. She was prepared for that. She wasn't prepared to find a rudely large man waiting for her when she got home, or being taken to stupidly fancy restaurants. It was strange. Unnatural. That self deprecating streak of hers trying to come up with fathomable reasons they would want to see her again, she knew she couldn't let it happen. She needed them out of her system, for good, Kylo had come and gone to get what he wanted. After today she didn't expect to hear from him at all, it was Vic she was more concerned with, he knew where she worked. It wouldn't be so easy to get rid of him now.

Her frigid little frame rounded a corner and came to the private room door, stepping through the frame as she tapped away on her phone, not noticing who was sat waiting for her in her designated chair.

Danny practically leapt out of her skin when she noticed she wasn't the only body in the room.

"Paige!"

She squeaked. A mixture of fear and embarrassment as she rubbed the back of her neck meekly.

"Explain yourself missy."

She scolded. A crease in her brow but a huge smirk pulling at her mouth.

Danny laughed half-heartedly. Making her way over to the chair and standing next to her friend, facing the mirror and placing her bag on the dressing room table. Paige swivelled in the chair to meet her friend's eye as she unpacked her bag, it didn't take more then a second for the fiery women to see the dark creamy spots of makeup that didn't match Danny's skin.

"Either you explain now or I wipe that gunky shit off your neck. Your choice titty-Magee."

She teased. Already reaching a slender hand toward her bag to pluck a make up wipe from it.

"Nothing happened. I met a guy and I went to his place, I was feeling promiscuous."

She lied. Hoping the sweat threatening to tip her brow wouldn't give her away. 

"So you're telling me, that conveniently on your one day off, that you met a guy and went back to his place to fuck? And that you were still there this afternoon."

Paige queried. Knitting her brows and pursing her lips, trying to grapple the truth from her friend.

"That's exactly what I'm telling you."

She gifted. Pulling her minuscule makeup bag out and lining her plump lips with a clear gloss.

Giving her self any excuse to not have to look her friend in the eyes.

"Someone I know or have you been holding out on me Danielle Porter?"

She smirked. Wiggling her eyebrows and jabbing Danny softly in the ribs.

"You don't know him. I barely know him."

She told. Dusting her cheeks in blush and highlighter as she spoke. Hoping Paige would simply drop the subject and leave it be.

"Whatever you say Dan. Just know if you want someone to talk strategy with I'm just a call away."

She winked. Pinching Danny's ass and flinching away when a eyeshadow palette was launched her way.

"You'll be the first person I come to Paige."

She smiled. Lying through her bare teeth just to get her friend off her back, she wanted to be honest with her. She really did. But she knew just how upset she would be that her friend was drawn to such lengths just to get out of money troubles. Despite how openly Paige spoke about sex she knew Danny was different, she knew she wasn't as forward. Paige had so many thoughts running through her clever brain but she didn't voice them, she had a degree in journalism. She could see it clearly when someone was trying to skim over questions, she wanted her answers but she'd let her friend come to her.

When she was ready.

"Pinky promise?"

She quirked. Holding out said finger and wagging it for Danny to take.

"Pinky promise."

Another smile. This time genuine. She hooked her dainty finger around Paige's manicured one, squeezing them tightly together. Despite how smart Paige was, she had little common sense. Danny appreciated that her friend didn't pry.

All would be cleared up soon enough anyways.

"Is Jake around do you know?"

The ashen blonde asked. Finishing off her minimal make up and discarding it back into her bag.

"I haven't seen him. I only came by to see you after what happened this morning, want me to see if he's in his office on my way out?"

Paige fiddled with her nails as Danny moved off to get dressed, or rather, undressed. Slipping back behind a small curtain just off the side of the room to slip into her sparse uniform for the night. Tonight she wore an emerald green two-piece, trimmed with black lace and paired with her black garters. The panties were frilly and lacey but still covered most of her pert ass, and the cups of the bralette were sheer and see through all apart from her nipples, the tight cutting garnet hugged her curves almost too comfortably. She did love the colour. A customer once told her that it accentuated her eyes, made them shine all that much brighter. Complements like that always stuck with Danny, a dramatic change to the usual sneers and slurs about her tits and what they'd like to do with them. A welcome change.

"No don't worry about it I'll go."

Danny pressed the curtain back and emerged, body draped in a silk robe that fluttered just above her knees. She remembered how the other girls had laughed at her when she wore it for the first time, they were all so open about their bodies and didn't mind sitting around practically nude waiting for their shifts to start. As usual, Danny would rather hold onto someone control of her decency, she'd always been the outcast in middle school and high school, she wasn't apart of a group of girlfriends and nor did she have any female figures to look up to. Her brother had been her best friend growing up, no matter how sad it sounded, it was true. She remembers making mud pies with him in the backyard and helping him catch pet snails that he named salt and pepper, those fleeting faint memories of her childhood is what she held onto.

The good memories. Only the good.

She learned early on that she didn't fit it. She was nerdy and artistic in school, the other kids didn't understand her. They didn't try to. One look at her oval shaped glasses that slid down her freckled nose and a passing gaze of all her sketch books and they'd already deduced she wasn't worth paying attention to. She was a nobody. Some art loving wanna be with not a single soul to talk to, she ate alone, sat alone, walked alone. She wasn't bullied, she told herself she wasn't even good enough for that, she was simply ignored. Forgotten. As the years went by she blended further and further into the background, her brother was enough for her, she'd count the minutes until she was at home in his room again. Just behind around him, she'd sit on his bed and sketch while they listened to music and zoned out together or she'd laugh at him while he cursed at his dumb video games. They had each other. That was enough.

Zac was enough.

Danny wrapped the robe tighter and secured it around her waist, the girls said their good byes and they shifted out of opposite exits, Paige taking the back one while Danny moved through to the front of the club to head to the manager's office.

Jake's office.

She kept her pumps on until it was actually time to slip into those ridiculously uncomfortable heels ready for the night, she'd wait until the very last second, she's surprised she hasn't broken an ankle yet. Her cheap shoes squeaked over the plastic vinyl floors as she made her way through the club, despite working here for over a year she still wasn't used to seeing the place in light. Bright yellow lights highlighting every nook and cranny as a-pose to the seductive red glow that the girls usually worked in, it was strange, she didn't like it. 

Danny skipped past the bar and took a left down a short hallway, rounding it and coming face to face with Jake's office door. Part of her hoped he wasn't in, she'd leave that dastardly little slip of paper on his desk for him to find later and skulk away, let him rage alone rather then having to do it face to face.

She couldn't have written that resignation letter quick enough, she'd been thinking about it for months now, drawing up drafts of it in her head ready to later relay onto paper. Now was the time.

Her knuckles rasped quietly against the door, keen ears listening out for any sigh of movement behind the door.

| 𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙶𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙽𝙴𝚇𝚃 𝙿𝙰𝚁𝚃 |

| 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝙴𝙽 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙴𝙳 |

"Come in."

A deep voice chimed. Voice sounding tired and unamused from behind the mahogany wood door.

Danny crept in, bright green eyes scanning her surroundings as she stepped through the door and let it shut gently behind her. She could see the top of Jake's dull dirty brown locks over the back his chair, stationed at his desk but facing the picture on the wall instead of her. He was on he phone, she could tell by his voice. He spoke in a false voice, peppy and chirpy with whoever he was conversing with.

Complete bullshit. He swirled to meet Danny's eye, cheap office chair gears creaking as he did, his eyes lit up with vapid hunger when he cast them over her.

Plain hazel eyes skimming up over the exposed expanse of her legs and halting at her chest that peaked out slightly from the cut of the silk robe.

"I'll call you back."

He gushed down the line. Crooked yellow-pale smile tipping up his lips when he spoke.

"What can I do you for sweet cheeks?

He soothed. His mannerisms and facial expressions did nothing of the sort, his growing smirk and the way he leant forward on his elbows with his chin settled on his hands had Danny wanting to run for the hills. Jake unnerved her, he always had.

The non-consensual touching and the snide remarks were wearing thin, but there's nothing she could do. She consoled in Paige about the issue in the first few months of working at the club but she was little help, Paige explained girls had tried to resolve the issue before. They'd ended up fired before they could even file an official complaint, Danny's situation was far too dire for that. So she kept quiet. She kept her distance from him when he could but it wasn't always that easy.

"Erm I just came by to drop this off, it needs to go to your Dad if that's okay."

She urged, gesturing to the thin document of paper in her hand. Hushed voice but stern tone hoping to ensure he perhaps didn't read it, if it went straight to his father then she wouldn't have to worry about her consequences. Jake would have no reason to get angry or do something out of his character, Danny had seen it done before.

"What is it?"

He questioned. Motioning for her to come closer to his desk.

She complied. Creeping over with feather light footsteps with one hand clasping the two meeting pieces of fabric covering up her decency.

"It's just a letter of notice. My notice, I'm resigning. I'll be gone in 2 weeks."

Danny stammered. Tongue feeling like fuzzy cotton wool between her teeth as he choked on her words and couldn't form real sentences. She watched his face closely as he took the letter from her, a little harshly, ripping it open with a shriek of paper and the crumple of an envelope in his fist. His dark brows furrowed and his lips pursed as he tore through the stationary.

"May I ask where this has come from so suddenly?"

He glowered. Deep rattling voice spearing her square in the chest when he craned his neck to her, eyes tearing through her with scrutiny. Well he's changed his fucking tune. She thought.

"A change in my circumstances is all, I'll be sad to leave this place but it's the right time for me to peruse my career."

She partly lied. Hoping that her voice was as convincing as she wished, the last thing she needed was confrontation.

"The right time indeed."

Jake's voice turned sour. His office chair barely missed the plastered wall behind him by a hairs breath as he stood swiftly. Danny shrunk away, taken aback by his change in character so suddenly.

He stalked around his desk, moving around her like a wolf circling a lamb. Steadily. Carefully. Hungrily.

"Pardon?"

She hissed. Eyes drifting around her skull to watch carefully as he stalked around her. Still keeping her robes hugged tightly to herself.

"I have a bone to pick with you. Regarding an incident last week."

He insisted. Coming back into Danny's view while he kept his eyes trained on her the entire time he moved.

Danny stilled for a moment. Brain trying to relay last weeks events and sift through anything that could have gotten her in bother. Nothing. Blank.

Jake watched her process his words. He could practically hear the little cogs and wheels turning in her skull as she tried to come up with a logical explanation.

"Regrettably, it would appear you've broken a number of rules. After signing a contract that permits you from doing so."

He snapped. Biting off the ends of his words with a growl, practically sneering down at her as he surrounded her.

"What are you talking about?"

Her voice was barely rasping above a whisper. A slight crack in her words as she genuinely questioned him, too confused to try and come up with valid answers herself.

"An incident involving a certain Mr.Ren. Ringing any bells yet sweetheart?"

The brunette scoffed. Bland eyes still focussed on her intently.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

She maintained. She really didn't. He'd only been in to the club that one night, nothing had gone wrong. Not to her knowledge anyway.

"I had a handful of complaints filed to my emails stating that it is very obvious my girls have certain favourites, saying you spent the entirety of your shift fussing over said Mr.Ren rather then making your rounds like you should have been. Our strict no touching policy was brushed off because you instigated a little groping session in the middle of your service, I heard that from my own staff. Things like that are prohibited for a reason, and you've fucked with my system. Not to mention you then ended your shift by having a drink, at my bar, with a customer. If you want to fuck your customers then you do it else where, don't taint my business on your way."

He cautioned. Danny felt his voice drift further and further away but she was rooted to the spot, limbs beginning to tremble when she heard the shackled lock to his office door rasp across the polished wood.

She was trapped. He was angry, and she was trapped.

Her mind flashed with images of Vic. The first second their eyes met, his hands clasping the backs of her naked thighs as he pulled her closer, the drink they'd shared after she got off. None of that rang any bells to be breaking the rules, she was a good girl, she'd been told that enough in the last 24 hours to know it rang true. The last thing she would do is put her job in jeopardy, no matter how much she hated it. She couldn't think straight the hot breath fanning against the back of her neck was overpowering, clammy cold hands snaking around her waist pulled her back to the terrifying realisation of what was happening.

"P-please Jake..don't-don't"

She pleaded. Eyes brewing with anguish filled tears that burned her eye sockets red.

"That can all be forgotten sweetheart. You just need to say the word and I'll let it slide. And if you say no, well, let's just say this months pay packet and your golden reputation will be hung out to dry. That glittering career you've been chasing after will be ground to dust when I let out just how bad wanted it, how you practically begged me to pin you against my desk and fuck you till you came hard all over my cock. One little phone call and you're ruined baby."

Her breathing stilled. This isn't real. None of this could be real. Not jake, not Vic...and not even Kylo...

This was all a terrifying nightmare bought to life. Hot tears ran down her cheeks and her voice was lost in her throat, oesophagus shrivelling and preventing any fresh air from entering her frigid lungs. His rough hands encircled her waist, palming at her skin through the silk and clasping handfuls of her plump flesh in his hands. He cupped her hips, palmed her thighs, squeezed her tits. Yet she was immune to it all, body leaving it's physical form and watching from the outside as she stood there and took it, wept hard as she swayed on her feet. Too frightened to pull away and much too timid to scream and cry for help, she'd scream until her lungs gave away if she thought for a second someone would come help her. That sad reality swirling back down to jab her in the chest, she was all alone, like always. Like she always had been.

"What will it be sweetheart?"

Jake's voice rasped in her ear. She winced when she felt his teeth tease the shell of it, hot breath of his tickling her neck in all the wrong ways.

"Please...p-please let me g-go."

She sobbed. Snot running from her nose and salty tears flowing freely over the soft apples of her cheeks. Danny wanted to evaporate, bid this realm fair well and pass over to somewhere greener.

Away from the torment she'd been sworn to endure.

"Wrong answer."


	7. 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃'𝚂 𝚈𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝙿𝙾𝙸𝚂𝙾𝙽

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "A good thief never tells."

[ 𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙶𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝙶𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙽𝙴𝚇𝚃 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 ]

Danny was completely paralysed by fear. Her wobbly knees knocked together and her chest felt as tight as an iron vice, her body convulsed with shudders as she felt her skin burn under Jake's rough hands.

His breath was hot in her ear as he growled obscene things, praised her for something she didn't want any part in, whispering filthy things like she had any say in what was happening at that very moment.

Jake walked her forwards towards the polished wood of his desk, his heaving chest still flushed to her shivering back with his arms keeping her clamped to him. No escape. No way out. Danny's cheeks were strewn with tears and her throat hiccuped with her swallowed cries, she didn't know what Jake would do if she was too loud. She didn't intend to find out.

In seconds he spun her around harshly, not being careful or gentle when he pushed her spine to lay flat against his wooden desk, sharp edges of papers and files and pencils dug into her flesh but she kept quiet. Not willing to anger the beast caging her body to his desk, his mouth was on her again. Chapped lips just close enough to tease her skin as he let them run down the underside of her jaw and down her throat, she felt him sneer against her skin.

"You smell so good doll, something cheap and sickly, just like you."

He growled his insult into the crook of her neck, taking a pinch of her skin between his teeth and sucking noisily on the flesh.

Danny grimaced. Trying to squirm away from his foul mouth and foul hands, it was futile. His body was pressed flushed to hers as he forced himself between her legs, one hand remained by her head to block off any escape while the other snakes between their bodies. Two fingers took hold of the silk tie keeping her robe tied together, she was already exposed by the force of being thrown on his desk but he wanted more of her. He tugged it sharply and it bought her hips upwards with it, meeting his groin in the most gut-wrenching way. With another deft pull he ripped the tie right off, the joining fabric of her robes falling away to pool at her sides on the polished desk. She whimpered and her voice was a babble of incoherent cries and pleas, willing him to let her go and take whatever this was no further.

"P-please don't..."

Danny whispered her words to him. Hoping her tone would break whatever trance he was under to think this was okay, she knew it was a long shot. He'd always been the type to cop a feel without prompt or look at the other girls a certain way, like he wanted to bend them over his desk too. Danny never thought he'd take it this far, she always painted him as a rich, stuck up daddy's boy with too much borrowed money to his name, she didn't think in a million years he was a rapist. Her brain continued to tick over with a thousand thoughts on how tonight would play out, each scenario worse then the last, she wanted the raggedy carpet floors to open up and swallow her whole right now.

Jake didn't break. Didn't even hesitate and the sound of her pleading voice, he was completely fucking deaf to it, in his twisted little mind he was taking what he was owed. Some sick ideal that held his power over everyone around him, he truly believed he was untouchable, someone people wouldn't mess with because of his family name.

Another thing about Jake. He was completely fucking clueless, for if only he knew what danger he was walking head first into right now, then he might have halted where he stood.

"Now you be a good girl sweetheart and be real fucking quiet."

His voice was dark murmur in the shell of her ear, her weeping eyes screwed shut and her chest tightened when she felt his clammy fingers trace down the plump round of her stomach, delving further and just breaching the hem of her panties. She wanted to scream, cry out, push him away and give him a wrap around the cheek for good measure; but she couldn't. She was completely helpless and it broke her.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

A handsomely dark voice drawled out. Octave like melted molasses spilling out of a mason jar on a summers day.

Danny's body jerked and her eyes snapped open. She knew that voice, she knew that voice well. She felt Jake's body completely shift against her, hands retreating and shoulders bunching up to make himself look bigger as he stayed hunched over her for a few more seconds. The glare painted across his face scared Danny, it was something sinister and carnal, something she'd never seen him wear before. His finger nails scraped into the wood desk beside her thighs and his eyes darted over her body one last time before he turned sharply to meet the stranger intruding into his private office.

"Doesn't look so professional screwing one of your whores on your own desk now does it Mr. Anderson."

Kylo's voice echoed around the room and assaulted Danny's ear drums, his lips were muffled by the cigar snatched tightly between them, only when she finally dared to sit up and peep around Jake's shoulder did she see that mass of his hulking in the door way. One big shoulder leaning across against the door frame with large hands stuffed into his pockets, if it weren't for the glowing look of fury in his eyes then he may have looked unbothered, nonchalant in fact.

"Who are you? And how did you get into my office?"

Jake spat. Quiet literally.

Danny's feet hit the carpet as light as a feather, snatching the sides of her robes together to cover herself up while she used her sleeve to wipe her tear stained cheeks. Her chest still heaved but she tried to keep it quiet, not daring to look into Kylo's eyes as he focussed his stare intently on her.

"The names Douglas, I'm a friend of your fathers. As for your door, it was open."

Danny's face twisted in confusion, senses coming back at her like a tidal wave as she steadied her shaking legs. Her brows furrowed and she pursed her lips, still not looking directly at Kylo as she tried to justify his lies. Her eyes caught the latch on the office door, a clean precise cut slicing straight through the chain dangling off it. Then she finally looked at him, silently asking a thousand questions she knew he couldn't answer.

His dark amber eyes burnt straight through her as he tipped his brow and nodded his head ever-so-slightly, silently telling her to keep her trap shut.

After what just happened, she didn't plan on saying anything to either of them, if Kylo's towering body wasn't blocking her exit she'd have scurried out of there as soon as she felt Jake's hands retreat.

"I call bullshit."

Jake seethed lowly. Fists flexing as if his lanky structure had any chance against Kylo.

"Want me to call the old man right now? I came down here to discuss investing but if you're too busy indulging your slut then I'll take my money else where."

Kylo punctuated every word with a click of his tongue, looking straight at Danny to deliver his insult. Half of her couldn't blame him after what he'd walked into, it would have looked the same to anyone else, but the other half of her was hurt by his words. The honey red glow tint of her heart further died away at the notion that's how she was seen by people, just another money grabbing slut fucking her boss for petty cash.

More smoke from Kylo's cigar plumed across the room as he took it between two deft fingers, retracting it from his plump lips and exhaling the toxic smog right over towards Jake. The smell of it tickled Danny's nose and she willed for herself not to sneeze, for fear of Jake remembering she was still there and pouncing again.

"No need. Why don't you come in? I'm sure we can arrange a more formal meeting, one that includes my father."

Jake didn't seem convinced. Muddy brow raising in question as he watched Kylo straighten up to his full towering height of 6'4, he watched him smirk with the fermented roll of tobacco snug between his lips, hands stuffed back into his pockets as he took a long stride into the room.

"Sounds just peachy. Your little toy leaving at all? Don't enjoy discussing money in front of women, she might be jumping into my slacks next."

Kylo chuckled. Head cocking over to Danny as she stood there all limp, lips parted in hurt and partial disbelief as she felt a lump of anxiety ball in her throat. She wanted to glare at him and scream as she left the room on her own accord, tell him that she regretted ever making that deal with Vic, that no amount of money was worth being subject to his pig-headedness. She didn't care how he'd take it, she wouldn't hang around to find out, as much as she wanted to say and do all of those things she knew she couldn't. She was too weak and frail to even push Jake away, she already knew she was no match for Kylo.

"She was just leaving."

Jake cautioned. Eyeing Danny from his peripherals and looking straight through to her very soul, his tone was reserved and warning. She didn't wish to be on the receiving end of him again if she disobeyed.

"Y-yes sir."

Her voice was a hushed stammer and she could have kicked herself with how pathetic she sounded, yet she didn't care, she had the green light to get out of her. She'd take that chance.

Jake turned back to his desk and nodded for Kylo to follow him through, Danny tried to keep her distance from Kylo as she moved to walk past him to the door, keeping her eyes glued to the floor as she moved through the office space. A large warm hand grabbed her wrist suddenly, she almost squeaked from the intrusion but her other hand flew up to cover her mouth out of instinct. Kylo was hunched down to her height, almost nose to nose with his hazel eyes meeting hers directly before skimming over to see Jake's back was still turned, he took his chance and shoved a small crumpled piece of paper into her palm. Forcing her fingers to close around it before he let her go, he'd just straightened his back when Jake looked back over.

"How 'bout you get us something to drink doll. Something strong."

Kylo ventured. Voice shifting to something akin to playfulness, gifting Jake the false sense that they were on the same terms when it came to their treatment of women.

She nodded weakly up at him. Eyes threatening to tear up again as he let his vice grip on her wrist fall away, she cast her eyes to the floor again, scurrying out of that office quicker then she'd ever moved in her life. The door clamped shut behind her but that didn't deter Danny, she kept moving through that dingy hallway and scrambled over to the bar.

It wasn't Poe tonight. Part of her was thankful, he was far too observant for his own good more often then not. She needed to catch her breath and get this night over with, she kept that piece of paper snug in her palm as she rounded the bar to grab some drinks. As much as she didn't want to go back, she wouldn't disobey either of them, not after what she just went through.

She grabbed two short tumblers when she felt a cold manicured hand on her shoulder, she flinched away but tried to steady herself, hoping whoever it was wouldn't catch onto her jitters.

"Hey calm down it's just me."

It was Roxy. The same pretty Latina that Danny had admired on so many different occasions.

"Sorry you just startled me."

She lied. Gifting the gorgeous girl a strained smile.

"It's your night on bar where have you been?"

Her voice was almost scolding. Almost.

"I'm so sorry I had a meeting with Jake and I guess it overran."

She smiled falsely again. Sweat beginning to bead on her forehead as she swallowed down the sob that wanted to wrack her chest.

"Are you okay?"

Roxy's hand was on her shoulder again, moving to rub down her back that was still covered by her silk robe, no doubt covering the indents left by the contents of Jake's desk.

"Peachy."

Danny's smile didn't do well to convince Roxy, but work was busy, as much as she wanted to take her aside and hug her worries away she couldn't, she wanted to yank her into the nearest rest room and let her spill out her feelings. But Roxy needed to keep working, she'd catch Danny later on tonight and find out what the deal was.

"If you say so. I'll catch you after work, yeh?"

She declared. Making it very clear to Danny that they would be having words.

"Sounds good. I'll be right back."

Danny turned her hips to the liquor lined glass shelf behind her, plucking a bottle of their strongest spirit from it and sloshing a thumb of it into each glass tumbler. She cast her eyes over to Roxy who was serving a customer further down the bar, when she saw she was occupied she quickly unraveled the note that was still crumbled tightly in her palm as she worked. Not willing to let it go.

It was a small shredded piece of paper with a rushed scribble of words dancing across it.

____________________________________

____________________________________

Danny's stomach dropped. Neck snapping in both directions to ensure no one had seen the paper before she shoved it into the pocket of her robe.

She swallowed thickly and placed the two drinks on a small tray to take back to Jake's office, she didn't need to give him any other reason to fire her. Although she doubted she'd be coming back now.

"Danny take that damn robe off! It looks bad on us for the customers!"

Roxy chided. Smiling cheekily over at Danny as she teased.

Danny figured as much. She needed to act natural and give no one the sneaking suspicion that anything was wrong, reluctantly she slipped off the robe, stuffing it into the wooden ledge just under the bar. She threw a smile back Danny's way who gave her a thumbs up in return as she moved to serve another customer. Danny felt exposed. Too exposed. The cold biting breeze of the air conditioning overhead sent a shiver down her spine and lined her supple skin with goosebumps, she shuddered physically before willing her limbs to stop shaking. Taking the tray on her palm and balancing the glasses with precision, with one last deep breath she moved from the bar and back towards Jake's soiled office.

...

The office door clicked shut. Broken lock chain clattering against the wood as it did, Kylo ears pricked up at the sound but it was clear Jake didn't even notice. Too busy straightening up his desk and realigning the papers and files strewn across it, no doubt sullied after he'd pinned Kitten to it.

Very much without her consent.

Kylo heard her from down the corridor. Trained ears picking up every weak cry and strained plea she gave out, his blood simmered in his veins and history was about to repeat itself indefinitely, he didn't care how much bitching he'd get from Hux. This kill would be every bit as worth as the last, if not more. Those little cries coming from Kitten struck him in the marrow of his bones, he didn't know why and he didn't exactly like it. But he'd be damned if he'd stand around and let that happen to anyone.

He was here to meet with Vic. Nothing more, nothing less. He didn't even register that this was the club she worked at until Vic sent him a rather filthy text earlier that evening.

It was a blurry picture that was too dark and tinted red to be able to see clearly but Kylo's eyes could make out that figure anywhere, the photo was taken last week, it was Kitten. Up on the very stage Kylo was now seated in-front of, stood with her ass facing Vic directly, bent over and leaving everything she had to offer on display. A growl bubbled in his throat upon seeing her, her words from earlier ringing around in his head.

"I don't plan on seeing either of you, ever again."

Kylo scoffed. After just a minuscule taste of that sweet cunt of hers there was no way she was getting away that easily. Not on his life.

His midnight blue breitling watch caught the dim glowing lights of the club as he checked the time, Vic was late, no surprises there. Kylo stood up and cracked his neck, abandoning his now empty glass of whisky as he attempted to locate the restroom. His long lumbering legs carried him past the bar and too a dimly lit hallway, the slowing pulse in his veins was seeped with a steady flow of alcohol and he only assumed this is where the bathrooms were located.

That's when he heard it. Heard her.

Her pleas and whines had sobered him up completely. He knew exactly what she sounded like when she really was begging for it, this wasn't it. 

She was pleading for whoever this was to stop.

Kylo's jaw ticked and his fists clenched at his sides, he didn't hesitate to stride down that hallway. Ears guiding him to where she was, he found the door in no time.

He reached into the pocket of his dark navy wool pea and plucked a small metal like pen from it, he thumbed the tiny ejector button on the end of it and a small razor thin blade pushed from the end. He slipped it through the crack in the door and just like that it was; he was in, silent as a mouse he pushed it open, giving the dangling chain latch the same treatment as the lock. Neither of the bodies in the room even heard him enter, his eyes locked onto her first. From the angle he was stood he could see her face clearly, tears falling from her screwed shut eyes and her mouth babbling nonsense for Jake to stop.

It wasn't until now that Kylo connected the dots. Seeing the obnoxious name plate slanted across the desk and the muddy brow locks shaggy atop his head he knew exactly who this was.

Jake Thomas Anderson.

A filthy little rat of a man that Kylo and Vic knew in great detail, his father had ordered a kill years ago now. Back when both men were just getting into the game, their boss had taken it on himself, Snoke was his trade name. Kylo and Vic never understood why their boss had taken such a little job, it was rare to see him in the field unless it was something important. The contact was severed any nothing more was said on the matter, that was until Snoke passed. Kylo had been sifting through all kinds of old materials when he cleaned out his office, he stumbled across hundreds of files of people who had been charged by The First Order. Kylo never like the name, too cheesy. After scanning through what looked like junk he finally found out exactly who Snoke had killed those few years ago.

A Mr. Robert Lee Christopher. Aka one of the biggest underground drug lords selling on the black market.

He'd escaped the laws for years and it wasn't until The First Order was formed that he was taken down a notch. A band of contact killers working in the city had left him weary, made him all the more tricky to catch. Jake's father needed him gone for one reason or another, something about money and blackmail.

Either way, he didn't last long once Snoke caught wind of it.

Jake's family name had cropped up on a few more occasions over the years too, wanting more people dead by the hands of the best killers on the market but never quiet making the price bracket.

The Anderson's were power and money driven, trying to execute their power over people at any chance they got. At this precise moment, that's exactly what he was doing.

Kylo assessed the scene carefully. Thumbing through his thoughts and choosing his words carefully. He pulled a cigar from his pocket and lit it, even the match striking didn't deter Jake, Kylo supposed he knew all too well what it was like to get lost in Kitten, but he was more then welcome. Jake wasn't.

Kylo's baritone drawl echoed through the room and bounced back at him. Both bodies before him jolting at the sound.

Wrong fucking girl Anderson.

Kylo's muscles ticked in the chair he was seated in, end of his cigar crumbling to the carpeted floor as let it hang limp from his hand balanced over the chairs arm, he heard the faint strum of Kitten's feet thud further and further down the hallway.

"Pretty thing isn't she."

Kylo's eyes met Jake's as he watched him speak, a gross smirk pulling at his thinning lips as he reclined back in his chair. The fucker looked smug, resting his arms behind his head and pursing his lips out.

"Not in my taste if I'm honest. She's easy enough of the eyes though."

Kylo's lied coldly through his teeth. Pulling the cigar to his lips to take a deep drag of it all without breaking eye contact, he let his shoulders slump into the creaky wood of his chair, not letting Jake think he was in the slightest intimidated by his presence.

"You're telling me you wouldn't take her stark over my desk given the chance? Wouldn't have her on her knees for you, or have her ride your cock in that very chair you're sat in? Lie if I ever heard one Douglas."

Jake's voice was a low growl. Speaking of Danny like she were nothing more then a sack of potatoes to be tossed around at his will and his alone.

"Allow me to be so bold and say that there are other things I enjoy when it come to my sex life. Not that I need to indulge you with details, if that's all you can think about doing with her then you might need to rethink your strategies."

Kylo took another drag when he finished speaking. One inky brow tipping up in a silent challenge, a challenge Jake wouldn't win even if Kylo was blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back.

"You're right. You don't need to indulge me in details. How about we discuss business?"

Jake's jaw was set and the contract killer could practically hear him grinding his teeth when he spoke lowly. Clearly pissed off to the high heavens with Kylo already.

Kylo opened his mouth to speak but the rapping of small delicate knuckles on the door stopped him in his tracks, he had to force his neck not to turn and look at her, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't give himself away.

He saw by the devilish of Jake's eye that something was enticing, drawing his dull eyes to scan her up and down with no shame.

She was silent as she stepped through. Shitty cheap pumps of hers still scuffing the carpet as she walked across to the desk at the other side of the room, Kylo's ears picked up the sound of liquid sloshing in glasses, could practically picture her dainty little hands gripping the tray tight so they didn't fall or spill. She came into his view at last, the absence of her in his vision felt like torture at this point, she wasn't wearing that little robe anymore.

Her ample curves and small waist were hugged tight in emerald green, matching panties and lace bralette complimented by the finishing touch of her garters.

Kylo saw her from the back first, she practically had to lean over him to offer the tray over to Jake, he plucked the shallow glass from her but didn't gift her a thanks, instead letting a single finger of his extend from the glass he was holding to trace a line down the valley of her breasts. She flinched away from the unexpected sensation and had to steady the tray still held between her trembling fingers.

It took everything in Kylo not to lunge over the desk and smash Jake's face in, pummel him so hard with his fists and lodge a pencil in his jugular just for good measure. But he needed to wait. He needed to keep telling himself that it would be worth the wait.

Kitten timidly turned around, bottom lip snug between her teeth with her eyes fixed intently on the tray in her hands. She didn't even try to look at him.

His brows furrowed but he took the drink nonetheless, not hesitating to slosh the entire contents of it back in one swig. Before she could move away he thumped the glass back on her tray and startled her enough she was forced to look at him.

Silver sea foam hues drowning in cinder-burnt hazel.

"Cheers doll."

He murmured lowly. Eyes stabbing her like a thousand knives as she swallowed audibly.

She nodded her head at the two men and took her leave, not wishing to get caught up in whatever suffocating tension was practically plucking the oxygen from her very lungs in that office.

Kylo didn't watch her leave. Rather, he watched Jake watch her leave. Just imagining what his brain would look like painted across that pristine polished wood desk, wondering what it will sound like when the last drag of air leaves his lungs. Kylo listened for the door lock clacking shut, eyes still focusing on the rat sitting before him.

As much as he wanted to execute his self control he was itching for a taste of blood, he thought Russia and Kitten had sated that primal urge that pestered his existence non stop. He thought it would be weeks before he was hungry enough to take another job, how wrong he was. He was ready now, right in this instant to get that oozing feel of blood coating his hands, watch it coagulate and dry into the skin of his fingers as he stood there grinning like a maniac.

But Kylo would bide his time, it would reward him for his patience.

....

The faded moonlight spilled streaks of silver violet across the structure of New York, painting the streets in a lavender-lilac hue.

Time ticked on too slow for Danny's liking, the events of her night had left her frazzled and on edge. She stuck to the bar like a bee to honey for the entirety of the night, not moving an inch. After fixing her make up and drying her tears she'd slipped on her heels and ventured back out to the floor of the club, scurrying her way over to the bar and watching the room intently. Waiting for Kylo to re-emerge from the dim dark hallway she'd managed to escape from, her thoughts were working overtime. The sudden change in his demeanour towards her and the cryptic note he'd all but shoved into her hand didn't make any sense. Her heart told her to heade the message but her brain convinced her otherwise, she didn't need to go home. She needed to work through her pain and not raise any suspicion with anyone, she still couldn't wrap her head around what had transpired with Jake. She tried to recall and mixed signals she'd given him or any prompt that would have invited his advances, but there were none. She tried to stop blaming herself, she really did, she found she was thankful that Kylo appeared when he did. God knows what would have happened. Danny didn't want to think about it.

The evening rolled along with more or less no interruptions, a few rowdy customers but she was more then used to that. She checked the clock and indeed it indicated just past 1am, she could have wept with relief when the end of her shift nearer closer, Roxy waltzed back over and told Danny to head off. Commented that she looked drained and that they'd catch up another time, again Danny could have cried with relief, she just needed her bed. Her brain couldn't cope with much more, especially with her lack of sleep and the looking early morning drawing closer.

She walked straight through the expanse of the club and didn't let her eyes wander anywhere but stay fixed to the velvet curtain dead ahead, no more interruptions and nothing else keeping her from heading straight home. She stumbled into the changing rooms and made a b-line straight for her bag, not bothering to undress and instead slipping her fluttering mini dress over the sparse lace she wore. She threw her make up and other belongings back into her bag from where she'd been talking with Paige earlier, she wished it had been Paige to talk to Jake now, she wouldn't have stood for any of his shit or taken the assault literally lying down.

Danny threw her bag over her shoulder and made off towards the exit, phone clutched tight between her fingers as she went.

The cool breeze of the lilac morning drowned Danny as she stepped out of the rickety back exit, big metal fire exit door clanking and knocking loudly against the old frame. She took in a big deep breath of fresh air, she often forgot what it felt like after spending so many hours in that stuffy club. Each time she stepped out back into reality she was hit with a wave of fresh air and fresh realisation, each time she stepped out she willed it to be the last.

Her pumps scuffed against the rough concrete as she as stepped forward, absentmindedly searching for her car keys as it she neared closer to the car park.

A single clank of a glass bottle had Danny's throat shrivelling up and the air in her lungs dying away, she didn't even have the time to react when she was pulled backwards and turned, back and shoulders digging roughly into the gritty brick wall. Her keys fell from between her fingers and clattered to the ground, her phone fell too but a very skilled hand was just quick enough to catch it.

Danny screwed her eyes shut tightly, weak lungs failing to expand as she whimpered, thinking it was Jake coming back to bite.

"I thought I told you to go home."

The gruff growl that found her ears certainly didn't belong to Jake, this voice had her weak knees threatening to buckle and set a fire burning in her belly.

Her eyes shot open. Meeting the shaded glow of amber glaring intently at her, plump lips pressed into a slight snarl as he crowded her against the wall, both thick turrets of his arms keeping her caged there.

"I needed to finish work Kylo. Or should I say Douglas? Which do you prefer?"

She bit back. As much as she wanted to be swallowed back into the brick behind her she wasn't going to take this lying down, his words had hurt her and she was going to make it known. She'd had enough time during her shift to set a low simmer in her blood that would aid her at a time like now.

"Don't fuck with me tonight Kitten."

He warned. Knee shifted dangerously close to her parted thighs as he adjusted his stance, she didn't notice, she was too busy glaring daggers into those pretty eyes.

"I don't plan on fucking with you any night. After all I am only a slut and a whore aren't I? Jake's little toy as you put it."

Danny snapped. Pearly teeth on show as he curled her lip at him, not caring how feral she must have looked. She was surprised to see Kylo's glare soften slightly, the furrow to his brow dissipating as he drank her in, watching the heave in her chest and the way her entire body trembled.

"I'm taking you home."

Kylo maintained stern eye contact as he shifted his weight back, moving his chest away from hers.

"I can drive myself."

She murmured as she crouched down to pick up her keys, not realising just how compromising the position she was currently in was. Kylo cleared his throat and stepped back further, he knew where her head was at, and it certainly wasn't there.

She extended her palm out for her phone that was still snug between Kylo's fingers. He gripped it tighter.

"With what car?"

His voice took that playful edge again. She watched his brow tip up at the same time as his smirk, her brows furrowed and she her eyes cast around the car park. Irises blowing wide when she saw her car wasn't where she left it.

"What did you do?"

Danny hissed at Kylo. Coming so close her chin almost touched his chest as she craned her neck up at him.

"I had Vic take it home. I knew you wouldn't be in any state to drive."

His tone was so nonchalant and Danny wanted to slap the smug smile right off his face, not only had she told him only hours earlier that she wanted nothing to do with him, but now he was taking it upon himself to dictate what she could and couldn't do.

"What gives you the fucking right? I don't even want to know how he got into it to be able to drive it!"

She was hysterical. Laughing between her words and rubbing her eyes harshly as she paced away from Kylo.

"Me saving your ass gives me the right."

His tone switched instantly. Marble stone scowl cracking his features as he spoke lowly.

She craned her neck towards him so fast he wasn't sure how she didn't snap it in half, her shoes scuffed the pavement as she stepped close to him again, crowding her chest to his and looking up at him through the crease in her brow.

"You should have left him to it. I'd owe you one less favour."

She growled. Bile threatened to breach her throat and her eyes felt blurry, she didn't mean any of what she was saying. Confrontation had never been her thing, she guessed she was trying to make him feel as shitty as he had to her. She came up short.

"You don't mean that."

He challenged. Craning his neck down so their noses almost touched, they could feel each other's breath fanning one another's face from the closeness. She could smell the mixture of mint, tobacco and whisky on his tongue. Her eyed were hard like stone but they were fracturing, the longer she looked into those ears the quicker she was falling apart.

"You don't know me. Just like I don't know you."

She let out. Turning her face sharply away from his and backing down, Kylo didn't miss the tears spilling from her doe eyes and over her supple cheeks.

There was a long pause between them. A moment of silence as her words settled into both of their minds, she was right, Kylo couldn't deny that. Yet he couldn't help but wish to change that, this little infatuation growing in the pit of his stomach was traveling upwards. The sheer thought of Vic or Jake touching her was enough to make him seethe, last night had been a wake up call. Something warm slumbering in his chest was awoken, all because of her. It was a thickening coil of lust, he'd confirmed that for himself earlier. Coming back for more after such a short time, made him feel needy and weak, but fuck did it feel good.

"Let me take you home."

She paused and turned to look at him again. Blurry wet eyes glowing from the violet-mauve light filtering through the morning sunrise piercing his calcified life organ, he saw the conflict on her face clear as day. Her furrowed brows twitching as she took her trembling bottom lip between her teeth. She was considering him. Not that she had a choice.

"Please."

That little whisper had her eyes beaming at him, head snapping to look at him straight on as if she didn't believe he actually had manners.

"Okay."

...

Kylo's engine died down as he rolled the car to a stop beside the street.

Little Kitten had fallen asleep just a few blocks into their journey, she scuffed her way to the very edge of her seat and practically hugged the passenger side door to keep herself away from Kylo. It might have been petty on her behalf but she didn't care, she wanted to make her point very clear. She leant her head on her hand and those pretty doe eyes fluttered with the spilling morning billowing over her, soft features painted a soft peach-violet.

Kylo couldn't help but look. At every cross road or traffic light he found himself sneaking a peak, just out of his peripherals until he saw she was sound asleep in the world of quiet slumber, that when he really looked. The careful rise and fall of her voluptuous tits as she inhaled steadily, the soft curve of her jaw as her neck was craned to face the widow beside her, those ample thighs squeezed tight together and meeting at the knee. He looked at all of her, something nagging and gnawing at his mind.

She still didn't stir when he ventured out of the car, or when he opened the passenger side door for her. She was out for the count, left completely exhausted by the events of her day. Who could blame her, Kylo certainly couldn't, she'd been through hell and then some. Her limp little neck fell down due to the lack of a door keeping her supported, Kylo crouched down to her level and snaked a deft arm around her waist, unbuckling her so she literally fell into his arms. She groaned when she shifted in the seat, little eyes fluttering for a split second before she settled again. Kylo pulled her into his arms and used his knee as leverage, settling her into his chest so he could hook one arm under the crook of her knees and the other to support her shoulders, inevitably carrying her bridle style.

He kicked his car door shut with the heel of his foot as he turned to face her building, knowing where to look when he saw Vic. Plumes of cigarette smoke and the dull glow of orange being the only thing illuminating his presence as he sat at the top of a set of stone stairs. Kylo walked over steadily, making sure his long strides didn't jolt her awake when he stepped up to the curb, she was light as a feather in his arms, some might say too light.

"You sure took your fucking time."

Vicrul's voice was gruff from the smoke smouldering in his throat, nicotine stinging at his tone.

"She got off later then I thought, quit your whining."

Kylo's voice was low and tiresome. Bored by vic's constant bitching.

"She needs a new car. The brake pads on that old piece of shit are completely shot, drifts left without me interfering."

The German's tone was analytic and thoughtful, despite the early hour his brain never stopped ticking.

"You're interfering right now. Leave the girl be."

Kylo huffed.

"And saving her from sexual assault and a deathly car ride home is what?"

Vic deadpanned. Scraping his cigarette against the stone step he was sitting on before he stood up, watching as Kylo ascended the stairs and neared closer.

"If you want to keep those teeth I suggest you shut the fuck up."

Kylo's tone didn't change. Remaining impassive as he eyed his friend considering their heights were matched now, timid little Kitten still sound asleep against his broad chest.

"You know I'm right."

Vicrul didn't wait for a response or reaction. He turned and made his way to the front door of Danny's building, pulling out a key card that was an exactly replica of her own and swiping it across the lock.

"How did you get that?"

Kylo rolled his eyes as he stepped towards his friend, crowding behind him and looking over his shoulder to look at the keycard in his hand.

"A good thief never tells."

Was the only response he was met with before he was forced to follow the German-killer, otherwise he risked being locked out.

The time between climbing the stairs and making it to the front door of Danny's apartment dragged on for too long in Kylo's eyes. Vicrul's insistent talking grated him to his very bones, someone was definitely getting their neck snapped tonight.

The two hulking masses of men stumbled through the narrow hallways and bounded down the corridor leading to her apartment, Kylo kept a watchful eye on Vic's deft hands as he had to fish through Kitten's bag to get her front door keys, the bag that was sat conveniently in her lap as it was still strewn across her shoulders. They all clambered through her door and a collective sigh of both relief and annoyance rang through the air.

Now it was a case of getting Kitten to bed without waking her.

Or not.


	8. 𝙰 𝙷𝙴𝙻𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙳

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Cum for me Kitten. Cum like I know you've been wanting to for the - shit - last four fucking days."

Kylo had never wanted to gouge his own eyes out more in his life then right at this second. Partly through frustration but mostly due to an incurable disease that had no known cure and had infected him for years now.

He had a bad case of Vicrul Ren.

He didn't understand how the insufferable German twit was still alive, he really couldn't fathom it.

He was arrogant, insatiable and intolerable. Him and Kylo shouldn't have gotten along as good as they did, well, Kylo supposed they didn't really. They were truly brothers through and through, most of the time unable to stand being in each other's presence, but watching each other's backs without failure regardless.

Right now, Kylo would be the one to end Vicrul insufferable torment. They had one objective left for the evening...morning...whatever it was. The ebony haired killer didn't bother to take note or care, he was itching to sleep. Ready to let the days events wash away in his stupidly humongous shower and drown his emotions with a tumbler of whiskey or two.

At this very moment, he was stuck watching Vicrul rummage through Kitten's underwear drawer like a horny prepubescent boy. Humming to himself and pocketing a pair or two as he smirked wickedly over at Kylo, knowing there wasn't a fucking thing he could do to stop him.

Kylo would have lunged over the bed and strangled the living daylights out of Vic if he weren't so preoccupied.

His jaw was set and he bared his teeth over at the German-killer, hard eyes telling him to keep his feminine giggles to himself while he worked at undressing the still sleeping Kitten. She was completely out of it, practically purring each time Kylo's fingers brushed over her bare skin or caressed her supple flesh. He remembered ridding her of her clothes being a lot easier then this, the emerald green garment stuck to her like a hungry dog on a bone, he practically had to wrench the damn thing off of her. The fluttered pastel yellow mini dress she wore was long since discarded, thrown across her room with little to no care. Something completely foreign sank in Kylo's chest for a moment, if she were to wake up now, his actions would paint him no better then Jake. If Kylo undressing her didn't startle her then seeing Vic sniffing her knickers from over Kylo's shoulder certainly would.

"I'm waking her up."

Kylo's voice declared in a slight hush. Strong voice carrying over to Vicrul's ears like smog from a fire.

"What? Are you insane?"

Kylo eyed his friend from over his shoulder, hazel-amber irises rolling back in his skull as he watched Vic ram the contents of Danny's panty drawer back in one fell swoop, his eyes conveyed a non verbal answer to his clearly rhetorical question.

You already know the answer to that.

"Shut the fuck up already. You're giving me a headache."

Kylo grumbled. Not taking his eyes away from the rise and fall of Kitten's little chest. She looked so peaceful, after seeing her shaking like an auburn leaf and hearing the strained weakness in her voice it was a welcome sight to see the soft edges of her face completely at ease and free of creases. Not a single worry line or furrow of her brow, plump lips softly sloped and those perky cheeks glowing a dull rose petal tint.

Kylo didn't favour attachments or sentiments. Never had and he swore he never would, although he did have to admit it was nice being involved with a woman again. The secrecy of his job and the fast pace of his lifestyle kept him far too busy to even think about relationships, he found he didn't particularly seek that kind of partnership. He kept his emotions and feelings under lock and key, just how he'd been taught all those years ago. Not letting anything in or out, a complete blank slate bar the constant anger and vexation that followed him and simmered at the thin cell walls of his veins.

He'd used his fair share of brothels and strip clubs to sate his carnal needs, paying to have his way with women he wouldn't even cast a fleeting glance over in reality, it was never his finest hour when he sought out to quench his sexual thirst. It was the one way he knew how to diminish his anger and hatred, through fucking. He hated doing it. He really did.

He found himself feeling weak when he had to crawl to such lows just to release the metaphorical noose cinched around his throat, constricting his flow of clean air until he could rutt away his troubles and feel somewhat peaceful again.

He admitted to himself that he was simply a man.

A man with needs just like any other.

He'd found solace in Vicrul some years ago now, spewing out his inner most thoughts over a bottle of whiskey and a pack of cigarettes. He admitted to his friend that he missed the companionship of another, in a way that wasn't just joining anatomies. He longed to feel something, anything other then the growing pit of sorrow and darkness that bubbled in his chest.

Vic had grabbed a wide handful of Kylo's shoulder and gifted him a tipsy grin, smacking him on the back and telling him to enjoy himself. To stop working himself to the bone and sate that carnivorous instinct that blinded his vision, Kylo couldn't help but feel he'd ran around the loop.

He didn't just want sex. But that would have to do for now.

"Waking her up is a big mistake, Schwachkopf."

Vic grumbled. Turning to face Danny's bed where her body was strewn beneath Kylo's. She was spread eagle across her matte grey bedsheets with her head lolled in Kylo's direction, who sat at her hip, one knee bent to lean against her mattress with the other still planted on the wooden floorboards. He twisted his body at his pelvis so he could work on getting her undressed without completely crowding her, her bed was just a standard double after all.

The ebony haired killer glared daggers over at his colleague. Snapping back at him using his own foreign tongue.

"schau es dir an."

Vic scoffed at Kylo's command. Steel eyes rolling back in his head as he clicked his tongue, he angled his shoulders down to lean both of his elbows against the wooden frame at the end of her bed, silver glowing eyes raking over and drinking in the parts of her body that weren't blocked by his partners hulking body.

"You should keep this one around. I like her."

The German's tone was nonchalant. One big deft had plunging into his pocket (the one that wasn't stuffed with Kitten's panties) to pluck a metallic paper covered stick of gum, unwrapping it with his teeth and laying it on his tongue. Not caring about his glittering manners when he rolled the wrapper between his fingers and flicked it across Danny's bedroom.

"Not a chance."

Kylo's tone matched that of Vic's, seemingly unbothered and disinterested as he took Danny's cheek in his palm, very steadily shaking her head to try and wake her.

"Then you won't mind if I do. Could use a pretty little thing like her to keep my cock warm."

Kylo could practically hear the smirk tugging at his friend's mouth. Those pearly teeth catching the streaks of early day light break drifting through a gap in the sheer floral curtains.

"Do what you want. She's made her opinion of me clear."

Vic's ears pricked at that. Physically leaning more of his mass weight onto the end of the bed to lean closer, wondering if he heard his meat headed colleague correctly.

"Since when has someone's opinion ever stopped Kylo Ren from taking what he wants?"

The German tipped his brow even though his expression couldn't be seen, the noisy slosh of his chewed gum grating on Kylo's withering nerves.

"This isn't the same. She's served her purpose so I see no need in keeping her around, you should stay wise and do the same. Stop trying to buy your way into another girls life." 

Kylo's tone was assertive and rang with truth. Trying to convey his seriousness to a literal child was never an easy feat, he only wished his friend would hear his wish. To leave Kitten be.

A chuckle found Kylo's ears. His brows furrowed and he glanced at Vic over his meaty shoulder, burnt-cinder eyes meeting mischievous glowing steel green.

"I think it's a tad bit late for that Kylo."

The two stared at each other for a split moment. Vicrul's smirk growing wider in length the longer the seconds dragged on.

"What have you-"

"Kylo?"

Both men refocused there eyes upon hearing her soft breathy little voice, drawing their attention to her as she rubbed her sleep sore eyes. Her tired eyes fell to her chest and back to the dual pair of dark hues intently watching her, she sat up in a split second and snatched her pillow from behind her, squeezing it tightly to her chest to keep prying eyes at bay.

Her mind was far too fuzzy for this, she stifled a yawn as she continued to drink in her surroundings, thanking the gods that she was at least in her own home.

"Sleep well Kitten?"

Vic chimed. Voice oozing with sexual husk.

"I usually hear that name from him."

Her little scowl was something neither men willed themselves to forget anytime soon, brows furrowed and lip pouted as she curtly nodded her head over to Kylo, gesturing to the mention of his pet name for her.

Before Vic or Kylo could even think about opening their mouths she'd already beaten them to it. Shifting her body further back so her spine was almost one with her headboard.

"Why are you still here?"

She sought. Tipping a trimmed brow upwards in question, bright sea green eyes seeking clarification from either male as her deep hues scanned them both respectively.

"I would have thought thank yous were in order, I bought you home and you fell asleep on the way."

Kylo's tone was abrasive. Sitting taller on her bed and creating more distance between the two of them as he snapped the syllables of his words.

He saw that Danny considered him for a moment, watched her brain tick over and mince through his words.

"That doesn't explain why you're in apartment, you could have woken me up and simply kicked me to the curb. There was no need for you to bring me up here, and undress me."

Her voice grew quieter and quieter as she spoke, damp eyes scanning every feature of Kylo's chiselled face as he listened to her words closely.

"You were completely out of it Kitten. Even if he wanted to kick you out half asleep I wouldn't have let him, I'd have bought you up here myself."

Vic manoeuvred around Danny's bed to stand directly behind Kylo, his towering height almost matched his ebony haired comrade but it still did nothing to shrink Kylo's body even while he was sitting.

A constant looming shadow of a beastly sized man.

"I got you out of your dress so I could get you out of all that shit, didn't want it biting into your skin all night."

Kylo punctuated his meaning when he hooked a thick finger under the hem of her garter, pulling it away from her flesh and letting it slap back against her skin harshly. She squeaked at the intrusion, not because it was unwanted, but because it was exactly the opposite.

"As sweet as the idea is I'm a big girl and I can undress myself, I'd have woken up if they hurt."

She huffed. Nudging Kylo's knees with her foot to silently ask him to move, she thought he'd catch her drift and stand up to leave, instead he shifted his weight to sit his body sideways. Still opening room for her to move past him but not giving her the relief of the two brooding men leaving her alone.

She kept her chin up and tried not to let their presence bother her, it seems they had more to say when she scrambled from the bed and let the pillow fall away. Darting over to her wardrobe and hiding herself behind the door.

"Are we going to talk about what happened tonight?"

Her heart fell in her chest when she heard Kylo's voice ring out, ears not missing the hum of agreement that blew like a soft growl from Vicrul's throat.

She kept quiet for a second. Stripping herself out of the constricting lingerie garment and slipping an oversized grey hoodie over her head, before fishing a pair of black booty shoots from the bottom of her closet and slipping them on.

"There's nothing to talk about."

Her words passed her lips with little to no emotion when she came back into view from behind the closet door, grappling her thick ash blonde locks into one hand so she could secure them atop her head with her silly pink scrunchie.

The matching stone-hard glares from the men watching her hawk like told her otherwise, in their opinion, there was a lot to talk about.

"Don't feed us that bullshit."

Kylo stood abruptly. Old bed groaning as his weight was extracted from it.

"It's nothing. Thanks to Claudia Schiffer over there I don't have to go back, it's done with."

She made a curt hand gesture to Vic as she spoke, still not knowing to what extent Kylo knew of their deal, thanks to him she was well on her way to being debt free. Very nearly.

"Who's Claudia Schiffer?"

Vic's glare softened into confusion but Kylo's only hardened as he stepped away from the bed and closer to Danny. Teeth biting out against his plump lips as he snarled.

"So you think the fact you're leaving that place regardless excuses what he tried to do to you? What he very nearly did do to you."

On instinct Danny's hands flew out in front of her, as if she were actually taming a rabid-feral beast that was barrelling towards her undeterred. 

"That's not what I said."

She sneered. Attempting to match his emotions but failing to reach that level of anger as the air around her thickened with each step he came closer. Then he was finally upon her, having to crane his neck down as he crowded her back against the closet door, only leaving a hairs breath between their chests that was barely enough room for her to inhale.

"Yes. Yes it is."

He corrected in a rumbling growl. He was far too clever and calculated to let this one go, she was admitting defeat, metaphorically rolling over on her back in submission. In the worst possible way.

"Kylo bring it down a notch."

Danny couldn't see Vic but she could hear his stern tone between Kylo's ragged breaths.

"I fucked you for money so I could get away from that shit hole, I don't want to think about Jake or any of it, I want to leave it where it is and move on."

She spat in true honesty. Her tone could never pierce skin but her words certainly could, she knew that from the flash of realisation that clouded Kylo's eyes and had him recoiling slightly. Of course he knew the true extent of Vic's deal to her, it didn't take a genius to decipher it. He just hadn't expected her to spit it that brutally at him.

"You think I don't know about your little birthday deal? I don't give a shit about any of that. I want you to understand how serious this is."

His tone solidified and his volume only grew louder with each passing word.

"I understand it very fucking clearly Kylo. I was the one pinned to that fucking desk scared for my safety! I don't want to let him win by making a big deal out of it! I've let it go so why can't you?!"

Tears stung her eyes and her voice croaked out mid-sentence, as much as she wanted to see Jake put through the same immense physical and mental pain she'd felt only hours before; she couldn't indulge him, she'd find a way to break herself away from that dingy club and finally leave it behind. She wanted to see him writhe and burn in the very depths of hell where he belonged but she was no match for a man like Jake, he had a well known family name and more money then she could ever wish for in his bank account. She wouldn't be able to hold a candle to him if it came to a legal battle to strip her of her contract, she didn't know how, but she'd find a way out.

"I can't let it go because it's fucking wrong what he did Danny!"

Kylo's voice was so loud and menacing it stung her ear drums, tears streamed down her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, bottom lip wobbling as she swallowed her sobs.

"That's enough."

Vicrul's voice cut through the tension like a hot knife to butter, solid-stone tone breaking Kylo away from his anger and reeling him back in. Quite literally, Danny felt the air shift and the heat crowding her body leave and she snapped her eyes open. Vic was wrenching Kylo away by the shoulder, pulling him away before he could anger himself more.

"Fuck this."

Was the last growled comment made by Kylo before he stormed off, ripping his body away from Vic's hand and retreating from the room. Long limber legs carrying him through her door frame quickly before he slammed it with so much force Danny thought he'd splintered the hinges. She heard her front door slam the same not even a second later, a sign clear as day that he was gone.

Danny let her last held in breath blow past her quivering parted lips, chest evening out when she heard the door go. Vic cleared his throat and she drew all her attention back to him, seeing the replaced softness in his eyes compared to his hard glare before. He wasn't playful or lusting, he was blank. Letting her decipher his mannerisms all by herself.

"I can't say I disagree with him Danny. This is really serious. Say the word and I'll personally make sure this whole thing is cleared up."

He stepped closer. Not crowding her or making her draw back, just reiterating his words by gifting her more closeness. Showing her that despite his filthy tongue and playful insinuations, he meant what he said, he'd clear this whole mess up in a heartbeat.

Danny swallowed audibly. Watching Vic closely and attempting to access his motives.

"What could you possibly do to help me?"

"Anything Kitten."

....

Four days passed by Kylo in a measured pace.

Worsened mood sour like acid since that night back at Kitten's place, he thought she was ungracious and blind to the real truth of her situation. She was going to let Jake get away with his actions for the soul reason she couldn't be bothered to fight a battle she was likely to lose, all because she had no idea she wasn't alone in in it, she was blissfully unaware that before that night even ended; Kylo and Vic were already very much involved.

Kylo's fingers had gripped the steering wheel so hard while he waited for Vicrul to emerge from her apartment building, he had every intent to drive away and leave his friend there, he wanted to vent his anger out through the rubber of his tires, screech and drift his way down the winding streets of New York and let rip over the blossoming hill that led him home. But he didn't do that, he stuck around because he knew he had to, Vic may have stood by wordlessly while he scolded Danny but he knew he couldn't just leave him there.

It wasn't out of his best interest for Vic, he needed to devise his plan, and fast. As soon as his cold eyes focussed on the hunched figure hovering over Kitten on that grubby shitty desk he knew that he'd be out for blood thereafter, he'd bide his time and strip Jake of his last shred of anything close to palatable sanity before he sliced him. Kylo's mouth practically salivated at the thought of killing Jake, his twisted-calculated brain ran riot with so many ideas and scenarios. All he knew was that it needed to be done as soon as possible, he'd torture him without dragging it out too long, that piece of scum didn't deserve the oxygen he still breathed.

The car door opening broke Kylo out of his sick train of thought, snapping him back to the reality that had led him to shout at Kitten. He'd got in her face and growled his words like he hated her, like she was something he'd scraped off the bottom of his shoe.

He didn't mean it, not really, he was glad he got his point across even if it did scare her. She needed to understand that this was all so fucking wrong, part of him could see the burning truth that laced her words when she'd wished Jake had assaulted her, just so she didn't owe Kylo a dime. That had struck a nerve, perhaps screaming and slamming every door of hers he crossed through wasn't his most gracious move but he considered her lucky, the old Kylo would have dismembered that crummy little apartment piece by piece, he'd have smashed it to bits with the toe of his shoes or the brunt of his fist.

Perhaps both.

Vic didn't seek to strike up a conversion once he was in the car, didn't even pass him a fleeting glance. It seemed he was as pissed as his counterpart sitting beside him, nether the less Kylo keyed the ignition and the engine roared to life, thick rubbed screeching and Kylo ripped the gear from first too abruptly when he pulled out into the road.

"That was uncalled for."

The German broke the silence, steel eyes flashing a reserved glare at Kylo.

The car jolted and burned faster, mimicking Kylo's growing aggression with the way he ripped it through the gears and smashed the accelerator.

"You're not my father, don't go trying to tell me what I already fucking know."

He growled lowly. Volume matching the rumbling car engine.

"Your old man would have capped you at the knees and dragged you out of there by the ear, so don't giveme the "you're not my dad" bullshit, you're lucky he's 6-feet under. I'm a lot less scarier then he is."

Vicrul used his fingers as quotation marks, sighing his words but making it clear to Kylo that his tone and words back at the apartment had been out of order, not that Kylo didn't already know that.

"Drop it. I've made my own mind up and I'm going to fix this myself, wether she likes it or not."

The car narrowly skimmed down a tight through rode, humming along the smooth concrete street and coming to a slow roar.

"I figured as much, that the reason we're headed this way, couldn't help but notice we missed the turn in for my street 14 blocks ago."

Kylo didn't gift a spoken answer, instead letting the jolting halt of the vehicle speak a thousand more words then he ever could. It was closer to 3am when they stopped, but it was well past noon when they left. Hours spent arguing, blabbering, cursing and calculating together as a trio. Kylo was never one to take help when it was offered so bluntly, but this was something he'd enjoy sharing, blood spilled together was blood spilled wisely.

As much as Armitage hated being woken up so early, he just couldn't say no to the devilish smirk of his favourite German hunk.

That early morning rendezvous had transpired into the rolling ball of bloodlust and depraved hunger that settled in Kylo's chest, a burning coil that he couldn't wait to set free. The languid pace of the day's that followed had left him with a curdled mood and a pinched expression, he wanted to rip Jake limb from limb, watch him choke on his bloodied-swollen tongue as the last inch of life drained from that fuck-ugly face of his.

Kylo had never been fluent at biding his time, he hated the wait and loved the jump, his muscles bunched like a cobra ready to strike. He was too fast and too swift for anyone to match him, that was one of his many strengths. His broad physique and his impressive dexterity made for a fine killer, molecular structure practically fabricated and formed to do just that. Destroy, kill, maim, strangle and bring suffering. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Hux had given the ebony haired demon-born strict instructions not to meddle, to sit and wait patiently like an obedient Rottweiler, he'd get a smack on the nose if he so much as dared budge or bare his teeth.Except Kylo wouldn't whimper away at such an empty threat, he'd welcome the ginger prick to try. 

Jake knew Vic by name, of course he didn't know him on a personal level or know the full extent of the job he maintained. But he knew his name, and he knew he'd been into the club a number of times as another affluent client. Having Vicrul play into the trickery would be no easy feat..

But The First Order never settled for just easy.

Kylo spent the next 96 hours fighting a bellicose hunger gnawing at the bridge of his spine, just sat waiting to be satiated.

His thoughts ran with mix-matched images of Kitten and Jake. He was plagued with visions of fucking her again, violently, he wanted to punish her for the way she spoke to him those days ago. Teach that filthy horrid mouth a lesson and show her that no one spoke to Kylo Ren the way she had done, he'd edge her within an inch of her life and fuck her so hard and raw that she'd forget her own name. He swore to it, he'd have her singing his name in a tune so incoherent that he wouldn't even hear it.

But then his mind would flash back to the thoughts of Jake, the way he made Kitten squirm and cry in the worst way possible sent a violent chill to his bones. Kylo would snap that bastards fingers clean off and shove them down his throat for the way he frightened her, preyed on her like she was a juicy cut of steak simply ready to be plucked off his plate. He'd make Jake suffer like he'd made Kitten suffer, not just for the night he tried to rape her, but for the ongoing torment he'd subjected her and the other girls to for their contracted time at that shitty club. He'd make him pay for his wrongdoings, and he'd enjoy every fucking second of it.

He was sat with his big broad shoulders slumped against the back of his couch, knees spread with a tumbler of whisky sloshing amber at it's crystal glass confinement as it was settled against his thigh, thick deft fingers tapping at the glass to a silent beat that only rang in Kylo's head, a symphony of his frustrations. It had been days since he met with Hux and he was still yet to hear word of his next movement, his bloodlust only grew with the painfully hard erection kindling between his strong thighs. He couldn't take much more of this waiting, he had no idea if Danny was still working or what Vicrul had up his sleeve. He was left in the dark and he fucking hated it, he needed to strike while the iron was hot. Feel flesh tear between his pointed teeth and have the oozing fill of blood stain his hands, he craved the violence and survived off of it.

The only way he got by was through the contract killing he was practically born to uphold, it was something to release his pent up anger and release the ever growing tension that coiled in his bunched muscles.

He'd had enough.

His heavy derby boots thumped into the kitchen at a rapid pace, pouring his whiskey down the sink and letting the tumbler clatter and roll as he chunked it against the counter, surprisingly it didn't smash.

Kylo's body moved at inhuman speed as he stomped over to his front door and ripped his jacket right off the peg, pulling it over his wide frame as he slammed and locked his door behind him.

The evening spill of midnight blue shrouded his vision as he felt the gritty driveway crunch under-boot, his car keys jangled and his chest compressed. He needed to sate himself. Again.

He felt weak and clouded. Never had his primal needs been so violent, almost more violent then he himself. He needed blood or pussy. Tonight, either would suffice.

His engine roared to life and he didn't waste any time, pulling out of the vast gates lining his driveway and veering off into the spilling moonlight horizon.

As much as he longed for the taint of blood staining his skin, a tight-sweet cunt would take the edge off this evening. And Kylo had a particular one in mind.

...

"Tell me again why you've been avoiding work?"

Paige hummed. Knocking back her fluorescent cranberry sea breeze cocktail in one deep swallow.

"I'm not avoiding it, I just figured I'd use the last of my vacation days instead of working the full two-weeks I have left. Quite genius if you ask me."

Danny spoke with a new found lump of confidence, the number of strawberry daiquiris and whiskey sours began to blur together as the night continued to draw on, intoxication only fuelling the growing gap of her heeled foot against the clicky vinyl floor.

"I get that girl, but still- I miss youuuu."

Her busty friend was way past the borderline level of drunk, she was almost paralytic. Squished into a booth and swaying her seated hips as he bumped her fists to the music, leaning forward and letting her sticky glossed lips wrap around her straw.

"I've been away 4 fucking days you dumb bitch, you just miss seeing my ass on the daily."

Danny hiccuped, a placid giggle blowing past her lips as she watched the colourful room around her grow fuzzy and blur.

"You're damn right girl. Miss snapping my fingers in those pretty garters you- you always wear."

Both women were in fits of giggles despite the lack of jokes, laughs leaving their lips and filling the booth they had both squished their ample bodies into.

Danny was reluctant to leave her apartment when her friend called her, jittering nerves and darting eyes watching out for any sign of movement outside her building or lurking behind her front door.

She just about jumped out of her skin when her phone rang but she was so delighted when it was Paige's silky voice on the receiver, begging and pleading to have her help with painting the town red.

Despite the loud inner voice screaming at her not to go she agreed, she'd shatter the metaphorical shackles that had her bound to her timid-ness. She didn't want to be the girl that said no any longer, Danny wanted to take a leaf out of Paige's book and let her hair down, strip herself of her shy ways and show the world what she really stood for.

She wanted to feel comfortable in her own skin and feel the foreign sensation of being wanted, sought after for more then just sex. She wanted tenderness.

So here she was; drinking away her troubles and chasing them with a shot of tequila or two. Laughing and fumbling with her dearest friend in some approved bar on the richer side of the city, it was a heavenly sight, bright and vibrant. Completely the opposite of the dingy streamed red lights of the strip club both girls were tied to, the bar was called Levels, aptly so seeing as though it had multiple stories. Each one with a different theme and glowing set of vibrant lights, it was airy and freeing, sweaty bodies moving in synchronisation to the shudder of bass heavy music, rutting and grinding through the night.

Paige necked the remained of her drink and Danny suppressed a drunken chortle when she watched her friend choke on a chunk of ice lodged in her throat.

She swallowed and jabbed her friend in the rib for laughing at her, leaving further over the table afterwards and giving her friend a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"Come dance with meeee!"

Danny's strength was no match for a drunken Paige, upper arms built like brick-stone to aid with the stripping job.

The ashen blonde was given little to no choice, yanked out of her seat with brute force and shuffled off to the closest corner of the dance floor. Thighs shifting and legs moving independently to fall into line with the sea of jerking bodies, grinding; dropping, spinning and bumping against each other. The stench of marijuana and lavish booze filled the thick stodgy air, it lodged in Danny's throat and had her choking on the ecstasy of it all. She was letting go, in every sense of the word, this is what it felt like to live freely. To not give a fuck about the opinion of others and give the big ol' bad world a fuck you for good measure. Tonight was hers.

She didn't know the length of time that passed; and she didn't care. She danced the hours away into a sparse nothingness, shifting her body against Paige's and giving the whole damn club a show. She was hollered and bellowed at but she was numb to it, focusing on nothing but herself and her friend. They gyrated and danced upon each other, dropping and grinding against each other's flushed bodies just for the hell of it. Danny's throat hurt from the power of her own laughs, deep belly laughs that hurt her lungs to breath thereafter, that was a welcome sensation compared to the hoarse dryness of her throat after a lonely night a home. Wallowing in her own sadness and self pity, drowning her sorrows with wine and sketching. A sad lonesome life she was bid to live.

But tonight she was everything but lonely. She didn't even jerk herself away from the large body beginning to press into hers, she glanced her doe green eyes over her shoulder and bit her lip upon seeing a gorgeous Nigerian man. He was broad and lean with a pearl smile and keen sense of dress, his deep brown eyes were the colour of finches and his pointed chin found the the crook of her shoulder when he husked in her ear.

"My names Finn, care to tell me yours?"

He wasn't the most charming, she'd give him that, but when she turned to face his chest and move her hips in time with the music she could see exactly why. And could see him more clearly.

His crisp white shirt contrasted to his beautiful ebony skin and the fabric of it was tucked neatly into the benetton blue slacks he had snug of his strong legs, the pointed toe of his dress shoes teetered close to touching Danny's heels. She didn't have to take another look to break his character apart, she'd been working around a certain homosexual bartender enough to have a good enough judgement.

"Are you sure you really want to know tiger?"

She purred. She could practically see the sweat sheening across his thick brow, it wasn't perspiration from the dancing either. She watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed thickly, saw his eyes dart to his immediate left as if he were being watched. That's when Danny noticed, he was. A gaggle of men around the same age as the aforementioned Finn were huddled by a high standing table, pointing and grinning like a pack of hyenas. She connected the dots and grew a smirk of her own, confidence blossomed in her chest and she made a bold move for his wrist, bringing it towards her to rest his hand on her hip. Even in her heels she had to tip toe to meet the shell of his ear.

"I'll keep your secret. My names Danny."

Her voice was soft like buttermilk, caressing Finn's senses and growing a warmth in his body from the tips of his toes to the hair on his head.

His hands were shaky against her flesh, hovering slightly and not quite touching. He was nervous and it filtered through the air in lulling waves, sending a spark of admiration to her weak little heart.

"Thank you."

Finn meant what he said. Truly grateful she wasn't causing a scene or laughing at him, exposing his not-so-little-secret to his friends across the dance floor. He let his hand settle on her hip, her contagious confidence infected him to his very core.

"Let's give your friends a little show, if you're any good I've got a very hot Guatemalan friend in need of a date?"

She cheeked. Tipping a tipsy brow up at the gorgeous man.

"Deal."

He grinned.

Danny took a leap of faith. Bringing him even closer and jutting her hips outwards, she'd do everything in her power to make sure she didn't make him uncomfortable, but she sure as hell was going to give his friends a show. And that she did. Danny had him twirl her under his arm and roll his hips in time with hers and the music, by the third song they were parched. Too much dancing and too much laughing having their chests tight and mouths desert dry. Finn insisted he be the one to buy the drinks, but Danny had other ideas, mumbling something about one of the limited luxurious of cleavage being free drinks. He laughed at her comment and told her he'd grab them a table, telling her to hurry along and get the hot guys number out she'd promised.

Her small frame pushed her way through the crowd, bumping hips and smacking into shoulders. She wasn't going to apologise for that, not tonight. She came to the edge of the dance floor with a cheesy grin still smacked across her face, but her eyes trailed over to the bar and it died away. Washed away in rapid downhill waterfall with her new found confidence flowing in tandem with it, stream of his washing away into nothingness.

Her green sea foam eyes locked with burnt amber.

They were hard and seared straight through her skin, she watched closely as he shifted, the bottom of his glass clanked again the bar as he stood abruptly. Setting his shoulders and moving away; knowing she would follow.

"Kylo wait!"

Danny gasped. Legs all of a sudden burning as she ran through the hued club and tried to keep her eyes on the hulking black mass of the man she was seeking.

He didn't wait, she thought she'd lost him when the cold air of the late night entered her lungs, setting a frigid chill to over take her suddenly. Her desperate eyes darted left and right, legs mindlessly carrying her down the set of steps and further out into the summer night breeze. She ran blindly, heels not letting her pick up the speed she wished too and leaving her ankles at breaking point.

She saw his messy ebony waves of hair come into view when she pushed her way through more people that were facing her head on, spluttering out her breathless apologies but not faltering.

"Wait! Kylo please!"

She was utterly breathless at that point, voice barely a rasp as she watched the man hesitate in his step. Her throat constricted and she felt her palms grow sweaty when he finally turned to face her.

He looked delicious. Black Saint Laurent button up shirt un-buttoned loosely down to the valley of his pecs, charcoal Giorgio Armani slacks hugging his strong thighs tightly and Prada derby boots on his large feet. Danny saw how his silver trimmed Breitling watch glistened in the moonlight, catching the metal and blinding her in one way.

"I'll hear you out because you said please."

She never got used to the rumbling growl that echoed from his throat and wide chest, it threatened to weaken her knees and sent a coil of blazing heat to ripple through her abdomen.

She drew closer, slowing significantly and leaving a couple of feet between the two of them.

"I just wanted to tell you I was sorry. It's been bugging me since that night, what I said was out of order and I wanted to apologise for it."

Danny swallowed thickly. Kylo's silence was louder then any scream or roar that could fabricate in his chest, it was unnerving. That confidence she'd found tonight was now ground to a spec dust.

He came close, far too close, crowding her backwards till she felt the scrape of ruined brick against her bare shoulders. She was pressed into an alleyway, shrouded in shadows and hidden away from the city street life crawlers.

"I don't want your fucking apologies Kitten. I want actions."

He spat his words at her, craning his neck down to meet her fear-filled eyes head on, he loved seeing her eyes wide and fragile. Liked seeing her pretty chest heave rapidly as she sucked greedily on air.

"Kylo I-I."

"Save it."

She was sobering up too quickly, dizzy world around her piecing back together and straining her eyes. The deep inhales of her chest had her tits brushing up against Kylo, pebbled nipples hardening at the friction of his shirt against her skin. 

This wasn't how he'd planned this to go, he wanted her in his bed, all night and the rest of tomorrow. Edging her and spearing her raw on his throbbing cock while she begged and wailed his name. Finger her tight little cunt he favoured so much and tasting her silky sweetness on his tongue and lips. He'd have her cumming so hard it blinded her, fucking her through her aftershocks and riding her to overstimulation. He wouldn't care when she'd scream and cry from the pain, he rail her harder - deeper, she'd feel him in her fucking throat.

He didn't think ahead when he sought her out, just how would he get her home, he didn't know and he didn't care. She was here. Now.

Kylo pushed against her harder, letting her feel every hard inch of him against her flushed body. He'd seen her dancing with some random guy back at Levels, watched her jut and grind against him like she really was some low class whore. His clever eyes didn't miss the dirty gazes of surrounding men that fell upon her, she was mindlessly flipping her hair and too busy laughing to notice. But Kylo noticed.

Danny squeaked when he caged her against the wall, watching Kylo's eyes shift even darker as his tongue darted out to lick his cuspids, he was feasting on every inch of her.

"I'll hand it to you Kitten, you have no idea how hard I've been for the last four fucking days. Having you speak to me like that rubbed me up the wrong fucking way."

He growled, lunging forward and mumbling his words into the soft crook of her neck, inhaling her scent and letting his wet muscle taste the salt-sweat and perfume on her supple skin.

"Please Kylo - not - not here."

She was whining for him, fisting the fabric covering his chest between little fingers and gripping it tight.

"I'll fuck you wherever I please Kitten, you get a say when you're a good girl."

Another deep inhale of her scent. He groaned.

"And tonight, you've been anything but a good girl."

He was gone. His mind was made and he could practically smell how wet she was getting for him, mewling like a little Kitten and writhing between his arms when he spoke those words in a sex filled husk.

Her dress of choice for the evening left little to the imagination, the maroon material fit like stands of wet silk to her skin, cinching her in and pinching her curves just right. It was low cut at the front and back, even a little roomy at the front, perhaps borrowed. Kylo's didn't pay much attention to it, he wanted what was underneath.

The contract killer let one of his hands drop off the wall, bringing it between their bodies and pulling the front of her dress upwards, her thighs jiggled and she gasped when the breeze hit even more exposed skin. He knew how wet she'd be for him, yet his mind still ran with everything he wanted to do to embarrass her, make her flush a crimson-pink and whine his name, curse him to the devil and back. He abandoned his trail, bringing two fingers to Danny's mouth and nodding his head curtly, hoping he wouldn't have to encourage her further.

She swallowed again, taking her head away from the brick wall and wetting her lips before parting them for him, he barely waited, planting his fingers on her tongue and sliding them down her palate. She choked a little at the intrusion, not quiet ready to take his digits so suddenly, but he didn't care. When did he ever, tonight wasn't about caring, it was about her submission. She'd learn one way or another not to speak to Kylo Ren in that tone again. 

She closed her lips, giving into the reeling sensation and humming on his digits, giving him what she could only assume he wanted.

"Such a fucking filthy little Kitten."

He grumbled. Ripping his fingers from her mouth and leaving her panting.

He gave her no warning when he yanked her up by a singular thigh, pulling it up to rest against his hip while he plunged his fingers into her throbbing wet cunt, skilled thumb keeping her panties at bay while he rammed her with his digits. She stuttered and whined, biting her lip hard to will away her moans,she'd never done anything like this in public. It made her forehead bead with sweat and her heart soar out of her chest. Kylo hummed in his throat, watching her slick juices coat his fingers and run in rivulets down his palm - catching at his wrist. She was soaking wet and all for him, that landed a wide smirk to pull at his lips.

He wasn't going to wait much longer. That tune of hers would surely change after getting fucked raw and unready by his dick. He'd have her sobbing.

"Ahh K-Kylo - please."

Her voice was a spiralled whine. High pitched and desperate.

She could have wept real tears when he retracted his hand, fingers leaving her pussy gaping at the emptiness he'd left her with.

He fumbled with his belt and slacks quickly, shucking them down his thighs and letting his wildly angry cock free, throbbing and more then ready to fill Kitten. The head of his cock skimmed her inner thigh and she shuddered, feeling the warmth of his pre-cum stain her supple skin like a Jackson Pollock painting. Kylo grunted when he yanked her other thigh into his hands, wide palms grabbing at the underside of them and slamming her back against the wall, exposed expanse of her spine definitely grazed red and scratched from his force. He sheathed himself inside of her with a strained growl, feeling her cunt clamp down around his length and squeeze the cum right out of him. Her pussy was criminal, nothing was allowed to feel this good, he used her thighs as an anchor and lifted her up only to slam her back down onto his cock again. Dark hazel eyes screwing shut from the sheer bliss of being inside of her again, he listened to the rutted sobs that spilled past her lips, jolting and stuttering with each blowing thrust he gifted.

Kylo's spine crawled when he felt her deft little fingers tangle around his neck and fist the into the hair at the back of his head, tugging and pulling with each snap of his skilled hips. Her heavy head fell to his shoulder, more strained moans and hot breath being blown into the crook of his neck and he ploughed his way into her. Uncaring and invading as he took her right there in that alley way, rutting her against cold brick and hammering his cock home in her cunt.

Her cries spilled into his skin, wailing and crying his name with each tremor that wracked her body, he could feel she was close, could feel the way her cunt strangled him at the base, trying to ring him dry. 

"So fucking tight - shit!"

He blindly let his teeth find the soft skin of her throat, jerker her up so she couldn't rest her head on his shoulder any longer, pearly teeth catching and sucking blossoming bruises into the expanse of her neck.

"I'm s-so close! Please - please!"

She begged him in a cry. Words barely spilling over her swollen tongue as she felt her vision breaking at the corners, tunnel vision beginning to shroud over her eyes.

"Cum for me Kitten. Cum like I know you've been wanting to for the - shit - last four fucking days."

Kylo's breath was slowing, catching in his airways as he felt his cock throb and pulse between her fluttering walls. He fucked her hard, snapping his hips upwards while gripping her thighs and forcing her down onto him, she gripped his hair harder, nails biting harshly at his scalp.

A few more deep thrusts and her sanity snapped, pointed heels digging into Kylo's tail bone with his inky tendrils wrapped tightly between her knuckles, her ear shattering moans bouncing off the brick alleyway walls as she came. And Kylo came not long after, biting down hard onto her jugular and feeling her rapid pulse between his lips as he fucked her through her aftershocks and through his own orgasm. Painting her silky walls with his cum.

Her body hung limp against Kylo's frame as he continued to fuck up into her, whispering filthy things to her deaf ears as he rode out his long drawing orgasm. A hearty satisfied growl vibrating through his chest when he was finally spent of all he had, grinning like a mine deprived after finally feeling Kitten's cunt around his cock again.

He set her down, letting her hands grip his now crumpled shirt between her fists, seeing how her wobbly rubber-like legs threatened to give way beneath her. She stumbled forward, squeaking when Kylo caught her by the shoulder and crowded her back against the wall, not exactly out of his best interest but for the sake of saving her a couple of bad scrapes to her knees. Not that he should care.

Her doe eyes found his, glowing in the spill of lilac moonlight that shaded her face on the right side, he could see every freckle and mark gracing her flesh from this light. Her plump wet lips and the soft angles of her pretty face, she truly was intoxicating.

His big palm shifted from her shoulder to the side of her neck, climbing up to cup the apple of her cheek.

He didn't feel himself lean into her, the bunching of his shoulders disappearing as he set himself on the path of linking his lips with hers. It was an urge, an urge he'd never dealt with before.

She whispered his name against his parted lips, breaths tangling together as their lips drew together simply a hairs breath away. Until their bubble of pleasure was burst.

"Danny?"


	9. Gentle Isn’t In My Nature

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "He's hurting. I can see it clear as day, he puts up this hard front but I see straight through him. I saw it the night of his birthday in his eyes, he'd sad."

A tepid sweat crowned Kylo's brow, sheening across his forehead and traveled in rivulets down the harsh angles of his chiseled face. Heavy puffs of warmed air blew past his gaping lips and crowded the space in front of him, his tape-wrapped fists connected harshly with the tan leather punching bag that swayed briskly from the force of his hits.

The sounds of knuckles hitting leather and the strained grunts leaving his throat were the only noises occupying the space, his eyes clouded with a familiar rage and he saw red. He was practically screaming at this point, the sounds ripped through his larynx like wolf claws tearing into flesh and they strangled his senses.

He was fucking numb to all of it.

He didn't feel the pop of fractured phalanges or hear the sound of stiff footsteps stepping through the door behind him, he continued his assault. Throwing clever punches and pulling forceful kicks that made his shins throb, he got off on the pain, it was the only thing that made him feel anything anymore.

That and one other thing. 

Kylo swung again. Throwing the entirety of his heaving mass into his fist and twisting it into the old-cracking tan leather, the fucking thing came right off the chains that kept it suspended in the air.

It fell to the cold ground with a thunderous crash, the sound travelled right through Kylo's bones and echoed in his ears.

It left him deaf to his brother's voice.

He was all but ripped back to his senses when a boxing glove hit him square in the scapula.

The 6'4 mass of brooding darkness craned his neck over his shoulder, flint-sharp eyes spearing straight through Vic's very soul. He growled in his chest like a beast gone feral, biting back his lips into a snarl.

"You should shower, I can smell you from here."

Vic was as cool as a cucumber, big daft shoulder leaning idly against the door frame as he leered at Kylo, the dull butt of his cigarette illuminated the left side of his face a dim orange as he held it between thick fingers.

"You should leave before I break your neck."

Kylo huffed. Cracking his neck and striding across the room to retrieve his towel from the bench that sat against the left hand wall.

"I see you're still pissed that Hux hasn't given the go ahead on Jake yet."

Silence.

"Or maybe it's the fact you couldn't keep your dick in your pants and you risked blowing your entire fucking cover."

Vic skilfully dodged the weighted dumbbell that flew his way, it lodged into crumped drywall and Vic let his eyes fall to it, he knew Kylo would never intentionally harm him. Not without a damn good reason anyway, he relished in the fact he could claw his way under Kylo's skin and come out unscathed.

"Keep your fucking mouth shut." Kylo seethed.

He violently rubbed the sweat from his brow, letting the damp towel rest over his neck as he pressed his weight into the small bench that sat against the wall.

Vic came further into the room, grey smoke billowing from his lips as he took long drags from his cigarette. He kept his distance from Kylo, moving to lean against an old pull down bar machine.

"I'm getting tired of covering for you, Armitage can only take so much persuading, you need to pull yourself together." Vic scolded.

As childish and wild as he was, it took a lot for Vic to fuck with his job or his duties. Snoke's beatings had taught him better than to put his identity and motives at risk, he knew when Snoke had found him all those years ago that his life would be changed forever. No longer could he rely on anyone or trust the people he thought knew him the most, he had to learn to disassociate, to cut himself away and hide how he truly felt. It would keep him and the people he cared most for safe, safe from people like him.

He was a blank slate now. When it came to it.

His sharp tongue and panty-dropping smirk were just parts of the many pieces that kept his masked facade in check, he hid away the deepest-darkest part of himself and only let it surface when he needed to. When he killed and maimed.

"It won't be happening again, I can tell you that much." Kylo's tone was sour and cold. Piercing the air as he spoke.

A brief moment of silence fell between them, Kylo worked on the soiled tape casing his knuckles, unraveling it and exposing the red-raw raised swelling of the bones beneath his skin. Vicrul watched him carefully, taking thick drags of his cigarette and heaving out lung-fulls of blackening smoke.

"What did she say?" Vic's voice broke the tension.

"She didn't say anything." Kylo grumbled, fingers wringing tightly around the towel draped over his neck.

"Ouch." Another drag of his cigarette.

"If you've come here just to vex me then you can fuck off." Kylo's growl rumbled in his throat.

"I'd do nothing of the sort, I'm simply enquiring about our little Kitten."

That same dirty smirk graced his lips.

"Our?" Kylo's inky brows raised in serious question.

"Our."

...

𝚃𝙴𝙽 𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚁𝚂 𝙴𝙰𝚁𝙻𝙸𝙴𝚁

"Danny?"

Saliva caught in her throat. Her wide eyes snapped to her immediate right, prying them away from the man pressed firmly to her chest. Kylo growled, his fingers tightening against one of her hip bones.

Finn just stood there. Wide eyed and mouth gaped. He had sweat tinting his brow and his chest in-took shallow breaths, he looked like he'd been running.

"Finn." Danny's words breezed past her lips in a hushed whisper.

She looked between Finn and Kylo, seeing the matching expression in both their eyes. Kylo was breathing heavy against her neck, hands like iron vices that anchored her to him. She pressed the heels of her palms into his chest, trying to put at least an inch of distance between them. She managed but he didn't take his hands off her, instead he slid a thick arm to wrap around the expanse of her waist, reeling her in against his side. Trapped like a fruit fly in sticky honey.

"Everything okay over there?"

There was a strain in Finn's voice. Danny heard it, Kylo heard it and even Finn heard it himself. He cleared his throat to try and disguise it but he failed, his Adam's apple bobbed with the force of his swallow and he kept his eyes glued to Danny.

"I'm fine. We're fine." She cast her eyes up to Kylo as she spoke, willing him to un-crowd her. He didn't.

"Your friend is looking for you, she's pretty freaked out that you ran off like that."

Finn had to propel his voice down the alley way, there was a good 10 feet between him and Danny, but he didn't move to come closer; the menacing glare Kylo aimed his way kept him glued to his spot.

Danny was frozen. She wanted to push away from Kylo and find Paige, but at the same time, she didn't want to shove him away and leave him there.

She assumed he wouldn't let her. The only reason she had followed him was to finally apologise for raising her voice at him, it was totally out of her character and she felt rotten for it; the last thing she had expected was to be fucked against the back wall of a rowdy cocktail bar. She was glad they were both decent when Finn arrived, he'd tucked himself away prior and yanked her dress back down for her. She would have melted right through the floor if he caught sight of what they were doing, if he hadn't already caught on. She just needed to get Finn away.

"I'm coming just give me 2 minutes." She tried.

"She's pretty upset, if you-"

"Finn. Two minutes, please." She begged softly.

Finn looked conflicted, if only for a few brief seconds as he locked eyes with Kylo once more, a dark devilish smile snagged at his lips and his inky hair clouded his vision. It didn't just unsettle Finn, it fucking terrified him. Yet he turned, calling over his shoulder as he took a last glance at Danny.

"I'll wait for you by the doors." He murmured.

And then he was gone. His body disappeared behind the concrete brick wall and Danny listened closely to the sound of his dress shoes clacking against the pavement, signalling the distance growing between them. She felt the heat of Kylo's body begin to crash, feeling the cool-clamminess of his skin through his shirt as he pressed her tight against him, her shoulder was buried into his ribcage and his fingers twitched against her stomach as he held her to him.

Danny twisted from his grip, but he didn't let go so easily, his hand moved from her waist and draped over the pertness of her ass as she moved to stand directly in front of him. Toe to toe. Facing those intoxicating hazel-amber hues that captivated her so much.

Kylo watched her. Really watched her. Drinking in every delectable inch of her, every inch he couldn't have. Not in the way he really wanted. Those big dumb doe eyes looked at him like he was the last man gracing the earth, the softness in her eyes was second to none, no one had ever locked eyes with him and held it so phlegmatically. She wasn't scared. She didn't shy away or hesitate, and it unsettled him. Kylo didn't understand how or why she didn't fear him, everyone did. Even his own blood. Yet when she looked at him he saw only the good, the pure good honesty that rotted her pretty little heart from the inside - out. She was oozing with it, with pure untainted kindness. Now that was a rare quality.

She didn't speak. Didn't even whisper. She bought up her dainty fingers instead, letting them skim over his cheek ever so slightly, he tried not to flinch away. She mapped out the moles spattering his face and let her fingertips touch each and everyone of them.

She stood observing him, just looking curiously, her heels didn't provide her with enough height to reach the entirety of him. So when he dipped down slightly to reach her level she almost knocked herself of balance, but his hands never left her, keeping her jellied limbs upright as they stood there in the fleeting darkness of the early-morning hour spill. Her fingers continued moving. Reaching over to sweep his messy inky curls out of his face and off his forehead, she flattened her palm over the crown of his head to slick back his semi-sweaty hair. Letting her reach those handsome amber swirled eyes he hid away, her hand came down to cup his scarred cheek, carefully tracing her fingers over the silver-pink scar that had healed well over time. Danny didn't care to think who or what had given him that scar, she hated imagining what it looked like before he healed.

She brushed his hair away from his cheek absentmindedly, exposing more of his face to her as his damp her clung to his clammy skin. She imagined she looked as disheveled as he did, hair all mussed and back all scraped from the harsh brick.

Kylo simply let her be. As out of character as it was for him to let anyone touch him like this, she was an exception, he didn't mind her dainty little hands roaming his body. His skin caught fire when she touched him, in a way that wasn't just sating his insatiability, in the sense that she could simply be holding his face in her hands and he'd be happy.

Happy. That was something that didn't strike familiarity to him, that's what he thought of when he was around her, that tiny little throbbing ache in his chest that he felt when he was inside her or when she was around him. He hated it. He really did. Yet he couldn't help but let himself cave, he was weak to it.

Weak only for Kitten.

A sigh blew past his lips when she took his cheek in her palm, it felt like they'd been stood in that damp alleyway for fucking hours, yet barely a few minutes had flown by. Kylo wanted to say something, anything, but the muscle in his mouth felt like lead, heavy and sluggish against his jaw. She smiled stiffly at him, almost out of sadness. Out of pity. His shoulders tensed and his jaw clicked but Danny was right there to smooth them away, bringing up her other hand to lay flat on his wide chest, her palm moving as one with the steadying breaths swelling his lungs. She reached up on her tiptoes, Kylo didn't see it coming, but he felt her plush-soft lips press the ghost of a kiss against his rough cheek. She was gone before he could reach out for her, she pulled his arms away from her waist, leaving her hand on his chest and looking at him with a certain something in her eyes. Something Kylo couldn't put his finger on.

She gifted a soft pat to his chest before moving away, he watched her hips sway and heard the clack of her heels as she erased herself from his eyesight, leaving him to stare at the endless abyss of darkness he was left in.

Kylo barely remembered anything after that. The blurry memory of stumbling into the nearest liquor store and drowning his sorrows with a more then expensive bottle of rum, he sat his ass right there on the curb at the front of that store, slugging down his liquor and slurring harsh words at anyone that teetered too close. A very pissed-off store clerk ventured out to scold him for scaring away customers, the skinny ageing man confronted Kylo with a swelled chest and a clear motive in his mind. That was soon forgotten when Kylo chugged the last slither of his rum and smashed the end of the bottle against the pavement, springing to his feet and lunging towards the clerk. The police would have been well and truly on there way if Vic hadn't pulled up like a fucking knight in shining armour, he ripped the bottle right out of Kylo's clumsy-drunken hands and dragged him by his collar to his car, he returned to wedge a sparkling silver money clip of folded bills into the clerks hands and swore him to keep his thinning lips shut. Vic knew he would. He would be a dead man walking if he didn't. That was a promise.

The German killer had too many contacts not to be called when a giant raven haired idiot began throwing his weight around the streets, he hopped straight into his car and made a b-line for Kylo, cursing his colleague to the high heaves for being such a big fucking moron. He knew he'd been to see Kitten, he was too fucking transparent to Vic, they'd known each other for too many years not to understand each other's feelings and needs.

Vicrul was too tired to wrestle Kylo for his house keys this early in the morning, he drove straight to his own place and pulled Kylo up his driveway and through his door, slumping the great hulking mass of a drunken beast onto his couch and leaving him there. There was no way in hell he was sticking around to aid his friend if he started to choke on his own vomit in his sleep, of course blood, brain matter and shattered bones didn't phase him; but someone throwing up? Now that was a no go.

He barrelled up his stairs like a man possessed, heading straight towards his king sized bed where his favourite ginger prick was sleeping soundly.

Too fatigued from German cock to notice the lack of body heat beside him in the crisp cotton sheets.

...

Danny's head throbbed. A prominent ache echoing through her cranium every time she blinked, it was nauseating. It had been a long time since she'd gotten that drunk.

It was hard leaving Kylo stood dumbfounded in that alleyway last night, it hurt her. And she didn't know why, there was nothing between them, and there never would be. It was just too unrealistic for her to think they were anything beyond a casual or not-so-casual fuck.

He used her for sex and that was it, perhaps she used him too, used him feel just that little bit wanted. She craved warmth and he gave it to her, albeit deep in her cunt but it was better then nothing.

But Danny knew she couldn't keep Kylo and Vic in her life, they were tied to that club, purposely or not. Vicrul had used her as leverage for his friends fucking birthday present, she'd been reminded of that every time she'd seen either of the two men since. She remembers looking into Kylo's eyes for the first time when he tugged that blindfold away from her face and she couldn't help but wish they'd met on better circumstances. She knew that out in the real world Kylo would never seek a girl like her out, or even pay her a second glance if she had caught his eye by chance. She imagined the kind of girls he was used to, girls like Paige, beautiful and voluptuous. She was simply plain and safe.

She woke up curled between Paige's bed sheets, crumpled clean cotton biting at her skin as she pulled them snug to her chest, caging in the warmth from her heated little body. Paige was directly across from her, hair fanned out against the stark contrast of pillows with drool leaking from the corner of her lip. Danny suppressed a quite laugh, watching her friend snore peacefully and shift to a dream land far away. She crawled out of the bed and made a b-line straight to the bathroom, she'd broken the seal as soon as she arrived at Paige's he place at 3am, biggest mistake after a heavy night on the booze.

Finn had tugged her back into Levels by the juncture of her wrist and dragged her to the bar where Paige sat, sniffling a dramatic sob and shooting another slug of tequila down her neck. She practically snapped Danny in two with the force of her hug, she could have splintered her like a tooth pick. The night continued on well into the early morning, the alcohol was the only thing keeping Danny from crying, so many mixed emotions were eating away at her gut like a deadly infection; guilt, anger, fear, lust.

Danny, Paige and Finn danced right out the doors when the bar closed, the handsome queer suggested drinks at his place or that they head to another bar. But Danny was spent, emotionally and physically. She just wanted her bed, somehow she ended up stumbling home with Paige and settling in her bed for the night, she didn't mind. She found her friend's presence comforting, in a time when she'd never felt so alone it was welcoming to have a warm body beside her in bed. One that wasn't Kylo.

She brushed her teeth with a borrowed toothbrush and freshened up as best she could, Paige had gifted her some old faded-black leggings and a dusty-grey college hoodie to sleep in, heavy layers were a must this month. Paige hadn't been able to pay the gas bill, her pay check had come up particularly short.

Danny didn't say anything, she didn't need to, she was in no place herself to judge anyone for their financial struggle or mishaps. She knew all too well what it was like to spend weeks on end wrapped up in heaped blankets just to stay warm, or scraping together basic meal necessities from newspaper cutout coupons. Most of her money went straight towards clearing her university debts, Danny figured a few nights of sending herself to sleep hungry would be worth it in the long run, it wouldn't be for too much longer.

She left the bathroom and tiptoed through to Paige's kitchen, sifting through the cupboards and settling on cereal for breakfast. She set two bowls on the table and went to pouring out the cereal, giving Paige a heftier portion then she'd given herself. She retrieved spoons, milk and even some painkillers before she crept back into the chamber of the sleeping drunk who owned the place, seeking to wake her up without getting snuffed by a pillow.

"Paigey..." she whispered softly.

The sleeping women stirred but still didn't wake, rolling onto her opposite side and shoving her hands under the pillow that was supporting her head, she made a disgruntled noise as she did.

"Paigey? Come on...I got you some breakfast."

Danny sang quietly.

She barely heard the muffled response that was thrown her way.

" 'ed 'urts." Paige groaned. Shifting to lay on her back and letting her dry-tired eyes crack open.

Danny smiled and crawled onto the bed, shuffling along on all fours until she met Paige in the middle, letting her thighs split across her trim waist as she straddled her friend.

"I got you some painkillers too." She smiled.

Paige pulled her hands away from rubbing her eyes, returning Danny's wide smile and smirking up at the dainty silver-ash blonde currently topping her.

"You're too good to me Porter." Her hands come up to cup Danny's thighs as she spoke, gifting a gentle squeeze to her pliant flesh. A silent 'thank you'.

"I wanted to thank you for last night. I enjoyed it."

Danny let her finger trace over Paige's collarbone as she spoke, not meeting her friend's eyes.

"I know, your neck is a mess." Paige scoffed. Pinching Danny's thighs in between her fingers.

Danny's hands flew up to pull the hoodie's draw-strings tight, covering up her neck and keeping her bare skin from her friends eyes.

"Shut up." She hissed.

"Who was he then?"

Paige's question caught her off guard, she didn't know if she was fully prepared to spill her guts just yet, she thought it might have been a waste of time. Kylo was out of her system now, last night had proved to her exactly what he thought of her. She hated that he drew her in with little to no effort, she was total putty in his big-brute hands. As much as she wanted to tell her closest friend of every little detail of the events that had transpired over the last 3 weeks, including the night in Jake's office, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Kylo plagued her thoughts, and she hated it. She knew nothing about the man, and yet he was constantly on the forefront of her mind. She was grateful for his help at work that night, she was grateful that he'd even gone to the trouble of taking her home. Making sure she was safe and sound, she saw a look in his eyes, it was different from the usual lust or hunger that ran rampant through those gorgeous amber-hazelnut hues of his. Something dangerously different.

She wanted to forget him. Leave him in her past along with the club and the horrid memories.

She had a nagging feeling that last night wasn't their last encounter however.

"Same guy I told you about before." She whispered.

"He was at the club?" Paige queried. Sitting up against her headboard and pulling Danny with her.

"Yeh I saw him at the bar but he didn't see me, I followed him outside and it kinda just...happened?"

Paige's smile tugged wider. She was all for risky sex, Danny knew for a fact that her having sex in an alleyway would never hold a candle to the late-night fumblings Paige had acquired under her belt.

"You've been spending too much time around those girls at work." Paige joked. Stretching out her arm to fish her phone from the nightstand that sat beside her crummy bed.

"You. I've been spending too much time around you." Danny corrected in a scold.

She didn't receive a verbal clap back. Instead she was completely smothered by Paige's pillow, she fell back against her friends shins and her lungs were robbed dry of all their oxygen as she choked on her laughs. After a few minutes of pillow fighting and thrown insults the two finally scrambled out of bed to eat breakfast, Danny gave Paige a couple of painkillers and poured the milk over her cereal for her. Paige muttered something about "wifeing" her soon enough.

The two of them enjoyed a fairly lazy morning together, to say they'd been on the drink till three in the morning they'd still woken up relatively early.

They lounged around and watched a few movies cuddle up together on Paige's humble little couch, snacking on crackers or whatever else wasn't sparse in the cupboards or fridge. Danny was almost drifting off back into a peaceful sleep by the third movie, until her phone rang.

Paige grumbled and moved to get it for her, seen as though Danny was sprawled out with her head resting on her friend's thighs. The ashen-blonde swore she'd never moved so fast in her life, she bolted to the kitchen table at incredulous speed. Snatching her phone into her little hands before Paige could even begin to lift her ass off the settee. The two of them shared a strange look but Paige shook it off quickly, assuming it could be Danny's man friend from last night.

Danny's brain tried to run the number through her head as it blared on the screen, she didn't have too long to try and decipher it before she needed to answer the dying call. She fully expected it to be Kylo or Vic, she didn't have either of their numbers saved.

"Hello?"

"Hello is this Miss.Porter speaking?"

"It is..."

The voice on the line was chirpy yet grainy, like that of an aged man no older then his sixties.

"Ah wonderful. My name is Emmet Chadwell, I was calling to confirm some of your personal information, your email has found us well and we're very impressed with your tenancy history."

The art studio...

"Thank you for getting back to me so quickly Mr.Chadwell, you would not believe how long I've had my eye on this particular work space for."

She couldn't help but smile. It was finally happening.

"It is a lovely property Miss.Porter, and your offer was by far the most sensible one we've seen so far."

His tone was somewhat bitter, Danny could imagine the number of daft offers people would have put in for the studio, although her bank would be screaming at her she couldn't risk losing the deal. She was going to offer everything she had and more.

"Thank you Mr.Chadwell, Can I be so bold to assume your call means that my offer has been accepted?"

Please please please please....I need this...

"I would like to invite you over to the agency to go over some finer details and sign the necessary forms, how does Thursday sound to you?" He chimed.

Danny could have screamed her lungs out.

"Thursday sounds perfect." She was smiling again.

"Excellent. See you Thursday Miss.Porter."

"See you then Mr.Chadwell, thank you again."

She placed her phone on the table, her pulse was thrumming harshly in her veins yet she couldn't feel her heart beating in her chest. Her whole body was frozen in shock, in disbelief, Danny wasn't this lucky.

Good things didn't come her way, her life had spiralled comply down hill at a rapid pace since she left university. This couldn't be true.

"Who was it?" Paige finally let out, sitting backwards on the sofa so her torso was leering over the back of it. Eyes razor focused on Danny's frozen frame.

"The real-estate agent, I've got the studio." She was practically paralysed, her body wasn't catching up with her head, her blood felt fizzy and her legs felt like jelly.

"What the fuck?! That's awesome oh my god!"

Paige squealed as she propelled herself over the couch, rushing over and squeezing Danny in crushing hug. The oxygen was plucked right out of her weak-dry lungs, she was numb but she couldn't mistake the lone tear that brimmed and fell over the apple of her cheek, a silver-sheen trail staining her skin in it's wake.

"I did it."

Paige's words of praise fell on deaf ears. Danny didn't hear her cheers or her congratulations, those same words she'd just spoken carried on ringing in her head.

"I did it."

....

Danny was glowing. A new lease of life encased her skin and robbed her of her usual negative outlooks, she had never felt so free in all her life. Thursday couldn't come around soon enough, all it would take is a few swirly signatures and the studio would be all hers. Just ripe for the picking. Her glistening future would be set in motion, just ready for her to kick start it all. Ready for her to stick her her past behind her and look towards her goals, she didn't regret her choices. Not at all. If she'd hadn't have taken that job then she wouldn't have even been able to dream of calling that little studio her own, she'd be left rotting in debt for years before she could even think about sinking her savings into something so practical.

She didn't regret fucking Kylo or taking Vic's money, she still hasn't touched any of it, that lump of cash was still sat in her bank just waiting to be spent. And come Thursday, that's exactly what she'd do.

Just one night of loveless sex with a man she didn't know gave her the opportunity to change her entire life. She'd do it again in a heartbeat.

After her call to Mr.Chadwell she'd apologised to Paige and told her she needed to run, not even bothering to change before she gathered up her things and made off down the grubby apartment stairwell and out into the glorious summer sunshine.

She cursed herself for keeping Paige's hoodie on, she had little to no choice with just a bra on underneath. She was grateful for the breezy leggings however, at least she wouldn't be melted into a complete sweaty heap by the time she made it home. Her and Paige didn't live that far from each other, but it was till a trek to make by herself.

A disgruntled huff blew past her plump lips and she gathered her hair atop her hair, pulling half of it up and leaving the rest down, just to keep those pesky wispy bits away from her sweaty forehead. She walked briskly down the concrete pavement, her borrowed sneakers were a little too big but they were fine, she just hoped she wouldn't have blisters at the end of her day. She rounded a street corner and then another, she was typing a message away on her phone to notify Jake's father that she wouldn't be returning to work. Not if she could help it. Her thumb hovered over the send button when a shrill sounding whistle pierced her ears. It echoed off the streets and hit back at her, it was fucking loud.

She jerked back and whipped her head around, looking for the source of the sound. Stood there, not even five-feet away from her, was no other then Vicrul-fucking-Ren. Perched against the bonnet of his stupidly expense car as he stubbed out his used cigarette with the heel of his polished brogue.

Danny didn't know wether to laugh or cry. Perhaps she'd could do both?

"Need a ride?" His voice never got easier to hear, something he and Kylo shared. Husky vocalisations that could drop men and women's underwear respectively. There was no doubt.

"Not from you I don't." She slashed bitterly.

Part of her knew she shouldn't bite at him like she did, but at the same time, she'd made it very clear that she wanted both stacked masses of muscled men to leave her be. She thought Vic had been the saner of the two of them and respected her words.

Clearly not.

"Ouch. Kitten has some sharp claws I see."

Came his orotund reply.

"What are you after?" She queried, stepping back just an inch when he pushed himself from the bonnet he was sat on.

"Just a chat Kitten. I promise." He lied.

"Kylo said if he saw me with you again he'd..."

"He'd what sweetheart?"

"He said he'd punish me...and you."

Vicrul's filthy smirk did nothing to settle the shiver running wild deep within her bones, it only worsened it. She didn't know why she was still stood there, she didn't owe him anything, she had no reason to hear him out. Yet she stayed.

"I can't tell if you're more worried about yourself or about me Kitten." His smirk grew in magnitude when she frowned up at him, wrinkling that button nose causing her freckles to stretch across her skin.

"Don't flatter yourself." She hissed. Craning her neck at him as he loomed closer and closer.

"She hisses like a cat too, Kylo won't touch me, or you. At least not in the way you're thinking of."

He knew exactly what she was thinking. She took it as a promise, not a threat. Kylo had no intentions of hurting her, maybe have her sob from the pain of overstimulation and a sore cunt, but he would never purposely have her put in harms way by his own hands. He'd rather die. Despite his tattered morals he still held onto the ideals of the innocents, he would never harm or kill anyone undeserving.

His deceased mentor had him strung in strappado for hours for holding onto his morals.

Vic could see the torn look in her eyes, she had no idea what effect she was having on Kylo, not even in the slightest.

"I don't want him touching me in anyway."

She chided, taking a confident step forward and puffing out her chest so it met Vic's. His pulse didn't even start to spike, he kept a cool level head as he felt the rage boiling off Danny like steam.

"Careful." His steely eyes lovked with hers. In a silent challenge.

She growled at him, snarling like a rabid dog as she brushed past him, not being so careful when she barged her shoulder right into his ribcage.

Not that he even felt it.

"You take me straight home. No funny business."

"Cross my heart and hope to die sweetheart."

That fucking smirk again.

"I'll start planning the funeral."

...

"This isn't home."

Vicrul opened the car door for her, letting her skunk out before he shut it behind her again. His longs legs carried him to where he wanted to go, not waiting for Danny's shorter-stubbier legs to keep up.

He'd taken a sharp turn that led them away from the city, the gravel road curled up into a rolling hill and stopped at a huge clearing. A sand-soil hill side and metal guard rail being the only thing keeping the two of them from tumbling to a painful and gruesome death, of course Vic wasn't afraid of heights.

The hillside perturbed into a lengthy ledge that looked over part of the city, it was peaceful and quiet, the wind barely whipped and only a slight gentle breeze blew through Danny's whispy ashen locks. The cold bit at her cheeks but she didn't care, this view was too breathtaking.

Vicrul observed. Watched her tiptoe tediously right up to the edge from over his meaty shoulder, watched her dainty little fingers wrapping tight around the metal guard rail as she took a fleeting glance at the huge plummet below. He saw the wonder in her eyes, that blinding goodness that sat at the forefront of her whole being day and night. He would give anything to see the world they way she saw at, he had that luxury ripped away from nimble little fingers when he was just 15 years old.

"I wanted to talk with you. No distractions."

He gifted. Watching her mull over his words and digest them.

"You come here often?" She tried, muttering softly.

"When I need to think or clear my head."

"It's beautiful."

Her words were a breathy whisper spilling past her parted lips, heart soaring as she absorbed every fine detail her eyes could reach.

"Yeh it is." He agreed.

Only he wasn't talking about the view. He was focussed entirely on her, from the wet of her eyes to the peach-tint of her cheeks. Far too innocent.

He could see why Kylo was drawn to her, it wasn't just her body, it was her entirety. She was pure in all the right ways, she had a clever head on her shoulders. Something that wasn't common nowadays.

They continued in a calm silence for a moment, simply thriving in the quietness. Getting drunk of the birdsong and whispering wind. The pleasure of existing in such a tranquil - undisturbed moment was something that stretched far beyond any materialistic substance. No amount of money or wealth could have compared to the sting of that cold wind on Danny's skin or the sweet smell of green shrubbery and dewy grass from the rolling hill.

It took her back to her guiltless childhood.

When the world simply made sense.

"Thank you." 

Vicrul hummed as he craned his neck to his immediate left, seeing her pretty sea-foam eyes glossy from tears she refused to let out. He saw the pain etched into her face, it was unmistakable, he'd seen his fair share of it over the last ten years.

Both bearing it or causing it.

"You're welcome."

"You're not going to pry and ask what for?"

She chuckled stiffly, bringing up her borrowed hoodie sleeve to dab away her eyes.

"I don't need to." He responded gently.

Another moment of silence clouded them, she swallowed down her sniffled hiccups and tried to even out her shallow breathing, willing herself not to ruin this enveloping calmness that blanketed them.

"What do you know about Kylo?" He asked.

Danny glanced at him out of her peripherals, momentarily before letting her eyes drink in the sublime sight before her again. She minced his words in her brain, not looking to come up with something witty or biting. Perhaps she could use this truce as a way to get what she wanted. Learn who she was really trying to hard to get away from.

"Not enough." She contended softly.

"We've never had a civilised conversation, it revolves around the same thing each time, I assume you know I've seen him since his birthday?"

"I do." How else do you think he found out where you lived? He uttered in his head.

She hummed in acknowledgement, filtering her next words through her head before she let them spill.

"He's hurting. I can see it clear as day, he puts up this hard front but I see straight through him. I saw it the night of his birthday in his eyes, he'd sad."

She swallowed down the coil of sorrow burrowing in her throat, it crawled up her oesophagus and threatened to strangle her of the crisp air she breathed. Her eyes watered and she felt the tell-tail wobble of her bottom lip as she continued, she was glad Vic kept his eyes trained forwards. She would have broken down in his arms there and then if she saw those steel grey eyes look at her with pity.

"He's hollow. He acts unfeeling and cold but he's empty on the inside, you're his friend aren't you? Can't you talk to him?"

He glanced over to her. The barriers of her eyelids had been very much breached, she tried to catch them in her sleeve before he noticed but his eyes were too razor sharp, the dark charcoal splodge of combined snot and tears on the arm of her hoodie was a dead giveaway regardless.

"Kylo's not the type of man to talk about his feelings Kitten, his way of life is vastly different to yours and even mine. His past will follow him right to the grave and he has burdens no man should ever bare, he needs someone to show him that he's more then just his former regrets."

Vicrul was confidently letting all of this out. He knew Kitten wasn't a squealer, but he wasn't about to let all of their secrets out into the open, at least not yet. Vic knew Kylo well enough to know he was drowning, for the last few years he'd been watching his closest friend wear himself down. His past hung over his head a like a dark storm cloud, setting his sour moods and striking like lightening when he lashed out or lost his temper.

He was indeed a broken man.

"And you think I'm that someone?" She sniffled.

Vic came close, swooping his strong arm over Danny's shoulders and reeling her into his side, squeezing her like a python against his body and keeping her glued there. An odd way to comfort someone, but the gesture was excepted nonetheless.

She coiled her arm around his thick waist in return, pressing her cheek into his side and signing at the warmth she found there.

"I didn't say that." He muttered into her scalp, pressing a soft kiss to the crown of her head and inhaling the sweet scent of cherries and deep black opium, pure - unfiltered Kitten.

"You're thinking it."

She tried not to smile, hoping Vicrul wouldn't see the small tip of her lips as she focused on the horizon. Watching the lights of the bustling city contrast to the midday sun hanging like a crystal chandelier in the pale blue sky.

"Give him a chance Kitten. Even if not for that kind of company, he could use a woman to open up to. It's not the same when I try to get him talking."

There he went again. Spilling out more then he needed to. He couldn't help it, something nagging in his gut was telling him she was good, far too good. That she couldn't be trusted with anything and she wouldn't run away with it, she'd keep soiled secrets safe till the day she took her last breath.

No matter how soon that may be.

"I can pay you for your time." He added.

She snapped her eyes up-to him, but he wasn't looking. She knew on purpose. He had the ghost of a smile painting his features, the rays of sun and natural light caught his features evenly. Making his steel grey eyes glow against the contract of watery blue sky. He held her firmer - tighter - as if she could melt away against the cool summer breeze.

"I don't want your money." She prodded silverly.

"Then what do you want?"

Vic felt her little fingers flex around his ribcage, felt the crook over her elbow wrapped around his spine twitch as she paused for a split moment. Carefully considering his question and answering truthfully.

"I want to understand him Vic, find out who he really is."

She was telling the truth. She'd had enough time over the last four absent four days to mine everything over in her head, fumbling through cloudy memories that speared her just like Kylo's cock had done. Everything was one huge faded blur.

The night of his birthday, the next afternoon in her flat, the night in Jake's office. All of it. The shifted images of the events played on shuffle in her head, filtering and tumbling through her fatigued mind as her subconscious fought hell for leather to keep up.

She saw pain and sorrow in those cinder-burnt amber eyes, she could feel how tight he held onto her as they slept side by side, the way he whimpered in his sleep has left it's imprint on her. Like a young boy plagued by unrelenting violent nightmares, she couldn't make out the name he croaked but she figured it was best she didn't know. She was already being intrusive enough. 

"That's a dangerous game Danny, some people don't want to be understood. Kylo is no exception."

Danny uncurled herself from under his hold, standing toe to toe with the 6'3 tower of pure German muscle, his presence was suffocatingly brooding, but it didn't hold a candle to Kylo's aura.

She looked straight up at him, wishing she could see deeper into those steel grey eyes he fought so hard to stay guarded behind. She had so many questions, questions she knew Vicrul would never answer. The past few days had her mind running wild, all kinds of wacky scenarios and sinister thoughts crashed in tsunami like waves over her stable rationality. She couldn't deny that he was entrancing, at any given time she happened to bump into him he looked just as delicious. Decked out head to toe in nothing but designer, Patek Phillippe watch encrusting his thick wrist with silver-black bands of Cartier rings sat snug on his large digits, he appeared to have crisp - cotton suit shirts in every shade of grey, black and hunter green. They were always tucked into his iron-pressed slacks that sat tight on his thighs and elongated his long legs further, the shoes he wore on his feet were always polished and preened to perfection.

And here she stood. Covered in snot and reeking from last nights alcoholic antics, she was boring and plain. Her thighs jiggled when she walked and her freckles made her stick out like a sore thumb, she couldn't run from her past when she was still living in it. No matter how hard she tried. She felt undeserving of Vic's attention, he was trying to hand her money for no apparent reason, save for the simple fact he just could. He had a disposable income that meant he could buy a suburban mansion three-times over at the drop of at hat.

His bank account wouldn't even feel it either.

She felt that he was taking pity on her, feeling sorry for the sad-lonesome stripper that was trying and failing to buy her way out of her university debt, it made her feel sick. She didn't want his pity or his charity, she wanted to understand his inner workings, along with Kylo's too.

"It's a game I'm willing to play."


	10. I Licked It So It’s Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Best deal I ever made Kitten."

Danny's shoulders trembled as quiet sobs wracked her little frame, she sniffled and willed herself not to give in to the full body tremors that were threatening to encompass her. She didn't need that. Losing had been embarrassing enough without bawling her eyes out right in the middle of Kamino Avenue, she couldn't take any more hits after today. 

She'd skipped over to the agency with a spring in her step and her brain on cloud nine, her happiness seemed so surreal, and it appeared it was premature. Danny's legs couldn't help but jiggle and squirm as she waited in Mr.Chadwell's office, she was seeping with nervousness and excitement.

A deadly cocktail of the two weighing out equally.

Her plump bottom lip was chapped from her assault on it, mindlessly wetting it with her tongue or sinking her top teeth into it had left it sore and raw. Another little nervous tick she had.

She wore a mint green floral cami dress that ruffled at the hem, it was a breezy summer day blaring out onto the concrete streets she resided from, she wanted to look sophisticated and keen, but she also wanted her personality to shine through more then anything. She didn't remember the dress being so short, it brushed just past her mid-thigh, she only noticed it when she stepped down from her apartment complex and a very chilled gust of wind blew north. Her little squeal had left a few strangers gifting her strange looks. Her cheeks burned pink.

Her breath caught in her throat when the door clicked, heavy footsteps followed and she was finally able to put a face to a name. Mr.Chadwell was a stout man with greying-bronze hair that was swept back over his head and gelled down, he had large oval glasses that were trimmed silver and sat snug on his large - rounded nose, his chin looked like a growth of sorts - it looked like it didn't fit to his face. He had chubby cheeks that jiggled slightly as he plodded across his office, Danny couldn't help but mask her small laugh with a ticklish cough when an image of a dwarf hamster came to mind.

Then she saw the look on his face as he sat down, she watched him with earnest as he heaved a heavy sigh, he peeled his glasses away from his face and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Hard. Then his misty blue eyes found Danny's, his eyes told her enough without him even needing to vocalise it.

But he still did.

"I'm so sorry Miss.Porter, you've been snaffled."

No no no no no no...

"Pardon?" She whispered.

"The property was bought out just this morning, they offered us more then the property was even worth and the lease is no longer in accordance with our agency. I'm sorry we couldn't contact you sooner, but I do hope you understand dear."

He seemed honest enough. It appeared the old geezer had been impressed with her original offer and maybe he did root for her, he'd already mentioned being messed around on more then one occasion for the property. Danny supposed if she were in the same situation she'd snap up the money too, she could see why the agency didn't offer many leases on their properties, it simply caused havoc. She tried not to let it hit her too hard, she really did try. She could feel the tears swelling behind her eyes but she blinked them away, hoping her fake smile spoke for her so she didn't have to let Mr.Chadwell catch onto the croak in her voice that she knew would definitely be sat on her vocal cords.

Damn it all.

"You don't need to be sorry sir, these things happen. I really appreciate working with you, no matter how things ended up."

She smiled again. Falsely. She stood from the small wooden chair she crammed herself into and bent at the hip to gift her hand to the gentleman sat in front of her, he seemed shocked. Like he'd expected her to scream and shout and cause as scene, like he thought she'd rage for the sheer fact she'd lost her dream. As much as that appealed to her, she wouldn't do it, couldn't. She didn't have the energy for anger. He took her hand, albeit a little timid, shaking it firmly and apologising to her again. She told him not to be daft and that she was sure she'd be seeing him again if she found a property she liked, he said he'd hold her to that. And he would.

Then she was back out on the street. Trying to not cry too hard or attract anymore stares, they only made her worse. Her mind clouded for a few short minutes. She couldn't let this hold her back, she needed to get a grip on this situation. There was no point in wollowing in sadness or anger, she'd spent too many years of her adolescence doing that. It was boring, futile in fact, it helped nothing and she'd be damned if she let herself fall back into her old ways from a few minor setbacks. She still had Vic's money, she'd earned it fair and square. There were other properties she could find, she just needed to know where to look. And she knew someone who would know exactly where to look.

So she dialled his number and threw herself in front of a cab, she hopped in and the cabby's face was a pure picture. A true New Yorker. His squinted features and sour expression told her he wasn't in the mood, she quietly mouthed her destination and he grumbled before shifting his car into gear. Her phone cracked against her ear as the speaker came to life, the deep smoothness of his voice had Danny smiling to herself as she sat in the back of that yellow cab.

Blissfully unaware of the day's up-cumming events.

....

"What the fuck is this?"

Kylo's gravelly morning voice still hadn't been soothed by a steaming mug of black coffee, he usually didn't slob around his house, but he had to make the most of the time he had to himself.

It was few and far between these days.

He was barely awake when he heard Vic's car pull across his driveway, he could tell by the crunch of the gearbox and the leer of the engine when it died down. Vic was a shit driver.

"What does it look like?" Vic scoffed as he lit the end of his cigarette, Kylo didn't know how the man was still breathing. He enjoyed a cigar or two himself but his German counterpart was a chain-smoker if ever he knew of one, a filthy habit they'd both picked up a number of years ago when they were barely even old enough to buy cigarettes. Alcohol too.

Kylo examined the small slither of metal that was sat snug in his brute-calloused hand, it was old fashioned and slightly rusted with age, it had a wide - flat end where it fit into the lock and the holding end had a smooth oval shape to it. He weighed it in his palm, letting it fall up and down in the air as he tossed it. He was more then just confused, it clearly didn't fit to a car or a house, it looked like it would fit to one of those studio flats up on the higher ends. The key's design fit to the times that the flats were first built it, Kylo knew trivial things like this, knowledge was knowledge. It wasn't often that he was wrong or mistaken. Barely ever.

"It looks like a rusty piece of shit." Kylo deadpanned.

He was bare chested wearing nothing but baggy sweats hanging loose on his trim hips, having already worked out and showered his events for the day were going to consist of jack-shit, he was planning on heading over to see Hux at some point. Simply to ask if he had the green line to rip Jake limb from limb yet, he was sick of waiting around with his thumbs up his ass.

He felt himself tick further and further over the edge each time Jake or Kitten came to mind, it was infuriating. Vicrul certainly didn't help, only adding fuel to the fire when he mentioned in passing that he'd seen her since Kylo had last had his hands on her. The hulking mass of ebony haired fury lunged, pouncing on Vic like a tamed lion gone wild, his folded pocket knife was sat questionably close to the German's jugular, simply begging for Kylo to lodge it in so deep it got stuck in the membrane of his oesophagus.

Despite the physical threat Vic didn't even flinch, his smirk never even threatened to fall. Neither of them knew what was scarier, Vic's lack of reaction or the fact Kylo's heart rate never even spiked over forty-five. They were both immune to this. Acclimatised.

It had been days since either of them had seen her, Kylo grew needier by the second and it pissed him off to no end. He didn't need anybody. He never had and never would. He swore it. He didn't want or need to rely on anybody. He was a lone wolf with a bone-crushing grip on himself and his ways, he wouldn't change for anyone, not even to help himself.

He remembered retracting his knife and skulking out of Vic's place, another occasion in which he was too drunk to handle himself so needed his German babysitter to step and intervene, it was the following morning in which Vic had decided to drop the Kitten bombshell. Even sober Kylo couldn't handle it. The fact she would still face Vic and not him didn't sit well in the empty void of his chest, he was the one that had dragged her into all this mess in the first place. He thought she would at least hold the German prick accountable for something, instead she chose to ignore and shun him. He wouldn't settle for that. No one fucked with Kylo and came out unscathed. Not even delicious little Kittens.

"That 'rusty piece of shit' is your ticket to winning over that little friend of yours." He rebuked. Using air quotes with his fingers as he balanced his cigarette between his lips.

Kylo scoffed. "Wouldn't exactly call her a friend."

"Sorry I'll rephrase that. The girl you fuck, dump and then pine over for days before you fuck her again. That better?" He stubbed his cigarette out in one of Kylo's potted plants, scrunching the butt of it into the damp soil. Kylo didn't give a fuck.

"I don't dump her right after, and I don't pine over her you dumb fuck." Kylo sneered. Tossing the key over to Vic, watching him catch it effortlessly.

"You keep telling yourself that tiger, and what? I give you an olive branch and you give it back? Fuck you."

Vic thew it again and it landed on the couch cushion beside where Kylo was sitting. It was no secret Vic had shit aim, just ask Armitage.

"I don't want your fucking olive branch. She seems to like you so much why don't you give it to her, fuck her while you're at it too for all I care." Kylo lied.

Because he did care. He cared a lot. He'd just be the last to admit it, despite how transparent he was when it came to his German colleague. They'd been through hell and back together, so of course Vic knew what was going on in Kylo's head. He knew before Kylo did for gods sake, he might be a dumb shit but he was damn perceptive. Too much so.

"Okay." Vic beamed, turning on his heel and aiming straight for Kylo's door. Without another word.

It wasn't till the potted plant he'd stubbed his cigarette out in earlier came hurling from behind and hit the door he was headed for that he actually turned around, smirking devilishly as he craned his neck over his shoulder. He could smell the damp soil and cracked pot-porcelain at his feet, just shy of his polished tan brogues. Kylo looked feral, obsidian eyes narrowed liked sharpened flint as he bit his lip back over his teeth and growled lowly in his throat.

"Give. Me. The. Fucking. Key."

...

Danny didn't think her mood could lighten this easily, it seemed her idea to take her mind off things had served her well. Just the remedy she needed.

"Where did you say you wanted to start?"

Finn queried, raising a dark brow and bringing his steaming mug of green tea to his lips, he sat with his legs crossed on the carpet floor of his shared apartment, scrolling through his laptop that sat atop the coffee table he was perched by.

"I aimed for Kamino Avenue originally but I'm not against looking elsewhere, I could move too once my pieces actually start selling so the properties don't have to be super close by."

Danny gifted as she sipped a deep mouthful of the frothy green brew, loving how it tasted, green herbal teas had never been her thing but Finn's homemade concoction of different leaves and spices was to die for. It was warm and earthy but had a sweet undertone to it too.

"I'm sure we'll find something for you sugar, it's a beautiful area."

Finn was honest, searching Danny's eyes as he spoke, she had a beautiful soul that matched her exterior, he had no doubt that she would flourish somewhere that would sate her artistic eye. Somewhere she could see the sun rise and set without obstruction, watch the skyline bleed into faded mandarin and lilac as dusk fell onto the concrete jungle she thrived in, a place she could throw all the wide-framed windows open and feel the spring breeze flutter through her hair and kiss her cheeks. She deserved all of that and more.

"Thank you for doing this for me Finn, I really do appreciate it."

Danny let her hand fall over Finn's as he typed away on his laptop, she saw the pearly smile that dimpled his cheeks and squinted his eyes as she turned to face her. His smile fell into a smirk.

"I'm just here for that hot Guatemalan's number you promised, it somehow slipped my mind the other night."

His voice oozed with sarcasm and Danny couldn't help but chortle, he joined in too, despite only having one drunken venture under their belts they both knew this friendship would flourish. No doubt about it, Danny just feared once he met Poe there would be no seeing either of them again. She knew for a fact they'd get on like a house on fire.

"I'll bare that in mind, but only when you deliver the goods do you get his number. Deal?"

She grinned.

"Deal."

A few hours passed by in a green tea and laptop screen blur, the pair had gone through several search pages and multiple mugs of tea by the time they both crashed. Finn's head throbbed from looking at his screen for so long and Danny had sunk so many cups of tea she felt sick, the liquid sloshed in her belly as she stood up and she grimaced. Her nerves this morning had meant she'd skipped breakfast, she'd be damned if she was breaking the seal now. The two didn't want to give in just yet, fate however decided to meddle, in the form of a very out of the blue text message that illuminated Danny's phone screen.

𝖴𝗇𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐𝗇 *𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 11:42*

284 𝖪𝖺𝗆𝗂𝗇𝗈 𝖠𝗏𝖾𝗇𝗎𝖾

𝖻𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗂𝗇 20 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖽𝗈𝗇'𝗍

𝖻𝖾 𝗅𝖺𝗍𝖾. B.S

𝖬𝖾 

𝖶𝗁𝗈 𝗂𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌?

*𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘵 11:45*

Danny typed her response quickly, a crease in her brow as she tried to think of who it could be. Finn loomed over her shoulder, watching her type away and hit send. He hummed in acknowledgement, although they didn't know each other well he could tell she was deep in thought. From the knit in her forehead to the way she stuck her tongue in her cheek, he picked up on her little habits quickly, she seemed to have a fair few of them. Little quirks that simply made her Danny, the way she jiggled her thigh when she was apprehensive or how her brows quirked or creased when she thought thoroughly and the way she would take her tongue between her teeth or stuff it into her cheek when she was concentrating hard. All trivial little things Finn couldn't help but find amusing about her, she wore her heart on her sleeve at all times. Not needing to hide it from anyone.

Whoever it was on the end of the phone had ignored her message altogether, reading it and not even beginning to type back, Danny finally quit staring at her screen after a few drawn out minutes. In any other scenario she may have just ignored it, deleted the message altogether and forgotten about it. But the address matched the studio space she'd just been outbid for, she couldn't help but think that it might have been a private number that Mr.Chadwell was using to try and contact her. Yet that still didn't explain the initials left on the end of the text, she tried not to think about it too much.

"I better go." She sighed.

"Without knowing who you'll be running into?"

Finn adopted a stern tone. Clearly unimpressed that Danny would even consider acknowledging such a strange text, the fact the number was private and there was no indication of a name didn't settle well with him. He knew what kind of creepers were lurking out there, it seems Danny didn't think that far into things.

"I'm sure it's just someone from the property agency." She tried. And failed. The deep furrow in Finn's brow told her that much.

"I don't think so missy. It wouldn't be a private number, they would use a more professional way of wording rather then being so blunt and you'd be given a name. This doesn't add up sugar."

Danny appreciated what Finn was trying to do, but at the same time, that last little shred of hope she had was screaming out to her. Perhaps the individual that had outbid her had changed their mind, maybe Mr.Chadwell or one of his colleagues wanted to meet with her and let her know the place was hers. It wasn't a chance Danny was willing to take, she was going to face this head on.

"Finn I need to try. This could really be legitimate, I won't know unless I go over there and find out."

She smiled at him, his eyes softened and a heavy sigh blew past his plump lips, his hand found her shoulder and he gripped her gently.

"I can't change your mind can I?" He chuckled.

"Nope!"

...

Danny scrambled out of the cab like a woman possessed, she was late, only by a few minutes but late was still late. She hadn't prepared for the lunch time rush that backed up the traffic all the way past Finn's place. The car ride to the art studio was more then a twenty minute cab ride, had she have not spent countless minutes going back and forth with Finn debating on wether or not she should even go she might have made it closer to the time. But fate was a funny thing, albeit sometimes annoying and frustrating, but it turned out funny after the fact. If Danny knew what was waiting for her in that studio, she might have just picked up her pace.

Her mini dress caught between her thighs as she sprinted up the vast stone steps that led to the studio building, it was a quaint little set of studio apartments that had been transformed into offices or art studios. Danny had kept up with the building tenant stories and sifted through any updates or blogs she could find online, she knew of an author that used one of the studios as an office space, she wrote fantasy novels and love poems and she truly was amazing at her craft. She had online blog that had pictures and mood-boards that showed how incredibly she'd utilised her space, she had story boards that littered the walls and big open window spaces that let all the light of day bleed through her floral-lace curtains. Danny was envious. It was a beautiful space that sang out a chorus from the very depths of the authors heart, it was all her, Danny wanted that. She wanted to have a space to call her she own, somewhere she could get away from her troubles and get her feelings down onto canvas. She wanted to feel inspired again, she really just wanted to leave her mark on the art industry and show her true colours. That colours that had slowly been bleeding away over the last year and a half, she was drained and tired, she wanted to feel like herself again. That studio would be the making of her. She just needed to hurry and get to Mr.Chadwell, it wouldn't look good on her if she showed up any later then she already was. 

Her palms pressed firmly into the front revolving door, she hurried through the lobby area and rounded up the small spiral staircase that led her towards a hallway, the building was four stories high and her particular studio of interest was situated on the third floor. She bolted up more stairs and darted down another hallway, her pumps scuffed on the laminate wood floors and she could hear her heartbeat in her ears. It was either show up a little late covered in sweat or arrive even later looking moderately descent, Danny chose the former. She finally rounded the last corner and could see the studio door was pressed open, left slightly ajar from whoever was already in there as a slither of peachy light spanned across the wooden floor before it.

She continued on. Feet clacking against the wood as she closed in on the door, she pressed it open with her palm lightly, stepping through into the studio that she'd grown to love so much. She'd only had the luxury to see it once before, during an open day where the property was open to the public. She could never have dreamed to be able to put down a deposit back then, but things were different now, she was fully capable of making her dream come true. The space was open and airy, the walls were a crisp magnolia that held the light beautifully, the buttery midday waves of sunshine painted the walls and they were practically glowing. She could see it all now, her paints scattered and decorating the walls, thick old bedsheets layered over the polished wood floor to keep it from being stained by her paints, inks and finishings. She'd take pride it all of her work, unfinished pieces would sit drying by the open windows while she hummed along to a tune playing on an old radio. Danny would still have time to create pieces for herself even when she was swarmed with commissions, she'd be free at her own will, not having to answer to anyone but herself. Pure bliss.

"Mr.Chadwell?" She chimed. Hoping her breath wasn't too short from her three story sprint.

Danny stepped further into the room, the ageing floorboards groaned as she crept forwards, her eyes scanning every inch of the room up and down - from top to bottom.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew from behind, flowing through her skirts and causing the hairs at the back of her neck to stand on edge, the door slammed shut and she jolted. Her muscles tensed and she whipped around on her heels, meeting the cause of her unease head, he caused an all too familiar chill to catch eerie on her bones and tendons. Rendering her immobile.

"You're late Kitten."

"And you're hard to get rid of."

Kylo chuckled. Removing his palm from the door he'd previously latched closed and stalking further into the room, he'd hid behind it with upmost stealth, knowing she'd be too enthralled in the room to take a second glance behind her. He'd counted on it, and she delivered.

"I like this little attitude you've adopted, it suits you." He commented roughly, drawing nearer as he spoke.

"I haven't adopted anything, it seems this is a rare occasion you actually let me speak."

Kylo considered her words. She was right, it was rare that they actually held a conversation, one that didn't involve Kylo's anguish or filthy tongue. They still knew nothing about it each other, bar the fickle drabs of information that was cast between them through Vicrul. It seemed he relished in his middle man past times, feeding and gauging information to each of them in turn. As much as Kylo hated that Vic was right, he couldn't help but soak up anything and everything he gave him. Little slithers of information that helped Kylo piece together who she was, what she was. And he wanted it all. 

"You hate me. Why?" Kylo's voice deepened, echoing in his chest like vast waves crashing against a crumbling limestone cliff side.

Danny froze meeting those sad-cold eyes that beckoned her the same way they did when she was tangled in Kylo's bedsheets. He drew close, too close, crowding her space so they were almost chest to chest. This time she didn't back down, she didn't shy away from him like she had done before. She would heed Vicrul's words and she'd let Kylo come to her, she would allow him to feel again. Let him throw his caution to the wind if only for a short time, he needed release, and not the kind that was deep in her abdomen. He would never admit it, but needed to let go of what he was holding onto, no matter how demonic and rotten in was. Vicrul had told her to tread carefully, warned her that he was not to be prompted to strike, and she would respect that. But she wouldn't come away without answers, without helping him.

"I don't hate you, I don't think I could hate anyone. It doesn't come naturally to me. That's what makes you and I so different."

She was gentle with him, almost soothing as her words dripped like softened manuka honey from her tongue.

"Not even Jake?" He countered, leering down so he was incredibly close to her face. His breath fanned her cheeks as she could smell the bitter tang of whiskey and the spearing scent of mint.

She looked him dead in the eye. Softening further and gifting him a meek smile that pressed her lips firmly together.

"Not even Jake. I'm to blame for what happened that night, I've spent enough lagging days and sleepless nights thinking about what happened and I'm done. I want to leave it where it is." She affirmed.

She was being truthful. All her life she'd blamed herself for her misfortunes and it came all too easily for her to do it again. She didn't blame Jake and she didn't take it personally, she was glad it was her rather then Paige or any of the other girls. She couldn't bare the thought of them having to go back into the hell-hole if Jake really had done through with it, she didn't want to think about it. So she didn't. She banished the thoughts away and tried her best to erase the memory altogether, she wanted to forget the feeling of Jake's clammy hands on her skin and the way his breath danced across her neck. All of it, she wanted it gone.

"You're not to blame Danny. Don't you ever think that any of that was of your own doing, he attacked you when you were most vulnerable. It's not your fault." Kylo was growing erratic. His tone giving him away completely.

"I'm at peace with it Kylo. I don't want to think about it anymore, you should do the same. Let it be."

She placed her hand on his hot-hard chest, keeping him at bay as he pushed closer, almost knocking her off her feet as he tried to walk her backwards.

"You want me to just let it be? Forget about what he did to you and move on? I don't think so Kitten."

He all but growled. Crowing her backwards till she'd traveled across the entire length of the room, her spine crashed against a wooden beam that flagged the vast-heightened windows, the edge should have stung but she didn't feel it. Her senses had been overridden by the man glaring down at her, plucking the oxygen right out of her fragile lungs.

"I want you to leave it in the past, I've made peace with it. Why can't you?" She rebuked. Scowling.

"Because I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not weak!"

He roared. His spittle settled onto her cheeks and her eyes were blown wide, she tried to back away from his harsh tone and suffocating body language but she was trapped. Caged against the madness of a broken man.

He stumbled, eyes trying to reach her but failing as he watched her eyes grow wet with saddened tears. He mouth gaped but the words didn't leave his throat, the straggled him as he tried to voice them.

Then she spoke. Clearing her throat as she stared right up at him, Kylo didn't find fear in her eyes - nor pain or anger. He found sadness. But it wasn't her own, it belonged to him. She was mirroring his soul and it reflected right back at him, like a jewel catching broken rays of sunshine. Leaving him blind.

"I might be weak by hand but I'm certainly not in mind, that leaves us as opposites." She hissed lowly.

Danny snatched herself away from him, shoving his chest and brushing past him to try and retreat for the door. He pulled her right back, grasping her forearm and dwarfing it in his brutish hand.

"Don't walk away from me." He commanded. Sneering as he did.

Danny turned, wincing as his grasp tightened. She tried to pry his fingers away but they only gripped further, like an iron vice snapping calcium-bone.

"Kylo...s-stop you're hurting me."

Her voice is as barely a whisper.

Kylo retracted instantly, as if her skin had burnt his palm like searing hot oil. Danny cradled her wrist to her chest, trying to sooth the dull ache as best she could. A growl erupted in his chest, if the room wasn't so bare and lifeless he might just have found something to throw at the wall or break between his hands. He broke away from her, storming across the room and raking his deft fingers through his scalp.

Danny watched him closely. His back was crowded and hunched as he faced away from her, breathing heavily and pulling at his inky locks.

"Kylo I-" Danny tried to comfort him, the floor creaked was she took a step.

"Don't."

She retracted even though he couldn't see her, his tone was enough to ward her away.

"Just...don't." His voice broke. Croaking as tried to soften his voice.

Silence fell and the only thing echoing around the empty expanse of the room was Kylo's laboured breathing, he was losing his grip on himself, on everything. He didn't come here to hurt her, he came to make things right, to actually talk to her. Just another thing Kylo Ren had managed to fuck up in record breaking time. The rusty metal key felt like dead weight in his pocket, dragging him down the slippery slope that was wavering sanity. His grip was getting looser and looser by the minute, the whole situation between Jake and Kitten was draining. Harrowing. He wanted the job finished and he wanted it finished now, he couldn't hold on for much longer.

Kylo's breath caught in his throat when he felt a warm body press flush to his back, her dainty little hands wrapped around his waist and clasped together over his abdomen. It felt like his lungs had shrivelled to raisins, she smushed her cheek into the back of his shirt and he immediately felt the wetness from it. Her tears soaking straight through the crisp robin-blue cotton and seeping into his skin, a new pant of guilt tore through his chest when he felt it. He'd hurt he physically and metal and yet here she was, hugging him like he was some over grown teddy bear that she'd won at a fairground. She didn't shy away now, no matter how hard he pushed away she came right back, like a Kitten seeking out pets.

"Why are you like this?" He muttered.

She retracted her cheek from his back and let her chin rest against it instead, to hear him better and mull over his question properly.

"Like what?" She sniffled.

"You're so good. Too good. You were right, we are opposites." He mumbled.

He let his hands fall from his face to her hands, rubbing his large thumbs over her interlocked fingers that sat snug over his tummy.

"You are good Kylo, you just don't let yourself see it."

"How do you know that?" He scoffed dryly, not buying into her words as she squeezed him tighter.

"I feel it."

She trailed her left hand upwards, scaling over his hard chest and landing in the space separating his pecs. Pressing firmly against the cotton covering his skin.

"In here Kylo."

His chest swelled and his lungs dragged on air. He was falling, spiralling. Again. 

"It's not so bad that we're opposites, if we weren't then we'd grate on each other more then we already do. Work with me here big guy, truce?"

A chuckle vibrated through their joined bodies, lifting the mood and casing Danny's sniffles to die away completely.

She drew her palms away from him but didn't move her arms, letting Kylo swivel in her grasp so he was facing her. She encircled his waist again, pressing her cheek against the rough muscle of his chest. The top of her head barely grazed his collar bones when she stood straight, Kylo smiled at that, bringing his arms up to pull her close to him. As close as he could have her, pressing her into him and reeling in her warmth.

"Truce." He rumbled. Baritone echoing through Danny's cheek.

They stayed that way for a few moments, breathing each other in and letting the silence encompass them. Danny's mind fell back to the text message. B.S...what did it stand for? What did it mean?

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Kylo pulled away, looking down at her with a ghost of a smile gracing his lips.

"Why did you bring me here?" She queried. Standing up straighter and looking up at Kylo through her fluttered lashes.

Kylo chuckled. Stepping backwards and digging in his pocket, he was surprised she wasn't already guessing by now if he was honest. He retracted his hand from his pocket and dangled the key right in her line of vision, watching her eyes widen like saucers as she beamed up at him.

"It was you who bought it?!" She squeaked.

"No Kitten. You did." He grinned.

He didn't think her eyes could widen anymore but they did, her mouth gaped and her irises sparkled.

He lowered the key and she was lightening fast to try and snatch it from him before he could back out, but he was too quick for her. Dangling it in her face before wrenching it away before her dainty little fingers could get a grip on it.

"You'll need to make it worth my while first."

He husked. Dipping his head down and crowding her space again.

"What-what do you want?" She whispered. Leaning into him.

Kylo smiled. Leaning back and straightening his spine so he towered to his full height. He smirked as he bought his hand to his face, tapping his left cheek with his index finger twice.

"Seriously?"

"Deadly serious Kitten."

She furrowed her brows and pouted, playfully scowling up at Kylo as he grin grew wider.

She was so quick with her next movements that there was no way he could have seen it coming, her fingers grasper for his shirt collar and she tugged. Hard. She crashed her lips to his and her eyes fluttered shut, Kylo fought the urge to groan. The key was forgotten, it clattered to the ground as it fell from his fingers, moving his hands to grasp at Danny's hips and bring her closer to him. He didn't let her control the kiss for long, he licked at her bottom lip and she let him in without any arguments, practically melting against the plump wet of his lips as they assaulted and dominated her own. She moaned when she felt him pull her hips flush to his groin, feeling the hardness of his body against her soft core. Her hands found the hair at the nape of his neck, tugging as he slipped his lips away from hers, leaving wet trails and sloppy kisses over her neck and throat. Teasing with his teeth.

He took a deep breath. Stopping himself. Not because he didn't want her, he wanted her so fucking much it hurt. He ached for her. For her touch and her voice soothing his nerves, she sated him, calmed him. But also held his entire balance in her little palm, she could tip him over the edge in the most delicious way. And she didn't even know it.

"Not-not here." He heaven against her open mouth, sharing oxygen as he fought so hard to to tangle her in another brain-melting kiss.

She nodded against him. Knocking her forehead into his as they both breathed heavily.

She backed away from him and Kylo swore he felt his cock swell to the point of unbearable pain when she knelt down, his brain was pure mush and he didn't understand her intentions at first. When she shot back up clutching the rusty little key he'd discarded to the floor his throat bobbed, his mind was running too far away from him. He needed to get his filthy tattered mess of a mind under control when she was around, he had a feeling they'd be seeing a lot of each other from now on.

"A deal is a deal." She grinned. Holding up her winnings to him, showing off what a simple kiss had earned her.

Kylo shot his hand out. Gripping her wrist and yanking it towards his chest, making sure not to be too rough. Her torso crashed into his chest, a soft plume of air blowing past her lips as she gasped.

He took her chin between his deft fingers, tilting her face to meet his lips once again. Softer this time. Almost gentle. He let her set the pace and he followed, mimicking her timid approach to taking charge. He liked it.

"A deal is a deal Kitten."

...

Danny's keys clanked against the ceramic pot as she tossed them onto the dresser, she'd done it so many times she didn't even need to look anymore. She knew the exact positioning of that crummy little clay ashtray she'd made back in college, it was an ugly thing but it served a purpose. It had character.

After dragging Kylo to the nearest deli beyond his will for lunch Danny had bought him back to her place, the evening was drawing to a close and Kylo's place was across town. Earlier in the day he'd explained to her that Vic had been the one to drop him off, he said he would have been over the limit to drive after a heavy night on the whisky. She tried to pry but she shut her up by shoving a slice of pickle into her mouth, not bothering to acknowledge her garbled questions as she chewed. Kylo was awfully good at that, dodging and avoiding her questions. Despite spending the entire day with each other Danny was barely able to scratch the surface. He was hard-faced and stone-chested, hiding his emotions away under strict lock and key. Danny tried asking about his childhood, about his job, but he was quiet. Not angry. Just quiet. Or he'd throw the questions back at her, flipping them on their head and seeking out everything there was to know about little Danny Porter. He did succeed in some way, but she was clouded too, not wanting to dig up the past that was due to be left where it was. In the past.

They'd walked for hours. To no destination in particular, simply letting the tamed conversation flow and letting their feet carry them forwards. That led them to Danny's apartment, she didn't do it intentionally, but she figured it was a good thing. Her knees felt like they were about to give way, she could have driven Kylo home, but she doubted that his great hulking frame would fit into her car.

It was a pathetic little rust bucket after all.

"You want anything to drink?" She asked. Shaking off her coat and letting it fall to the back of her couch.

"I'm good thank you, this is strange." He let out, dark honey eyes scanning her apartment from top to bottom.

"Be nice. I may be living like a king like you do but it's home." She scolded playfully, smirking over her shoulder at him as she strolled to the fridge.

"I meant using the front door." He grinned. Pearly teeth catching the evening sun from the drawn curtains behind her.

Oh right. She'd forgotten the last time he'd been here he'd crept through her open window like some kind of fucking banshee, it seemed there were a lot of things about Kylo that she let slip. Like the strange initials he'd left on the text, if that's what they were.

"You going to tell me about that or not?" She queried, knocking back some apple juice she'd grabbed from the fridge, drinking straight from the carton.

"Definitely not." He drawled. Looming closer as he moved through her apartment.

Danny discarded the juice back into the fridge, stepping out of the kitchen space and meeting Kylo in the middle. She was still amazed at the height difference, he could snap her like a toothpick, and they both knew it.

They were toe to toe. Kylo's hand clasped her cheek, that same softness from earlier creeping back in as he ran his thumb over her cheek. Her warm-silk skin never failed to amaze him, against his rough-calloused skin it felt like ambrosia silk woven by the Greek gods. Ethereal.

Danny took his hand from her face, letting it fall between their bodies and she laced her fingers with his. His eyes met hers and he saw everything he needed to, she wanted him just as much as he needed her, this wasn't a one way street. That much was clear to him now, that throbbing in his heart returned, along with an aching throb not between his legs. She tugged his hand, turning and pulling him along to follow behind her. He supposed this was amusing in some aspects, a murderer being led astray by a gorgeous little thing that was completely oblivious to who she was bedding. If only she knew.

They reached her bedroom. She turned again so she was walking backwards and facing him, tugging him further into the room as she watched him kick her door shut. She bought him towards the bed, shoving him backwards onto it so he fell into a seated position. If Kylo thought he was having the control tonight, he was sorely mistaken. He'd never let her please him that first night they met, he pleased her. Tonight was his. Tonight she would do everything in her power to please, repay him for everything he'd gifted so far. Her hands found the hem of her dress, arms criss-crossed over her torso as she yanked the dress over her head, letting it drop to the floor. She'd already kicked her pumps off at the front door, that left her almost completely bare to his eyes now, nothing but straps of silky cotton undergarments keeping her purity from his eyes. Her panties were a peach-pink colour, complimenting her ivory skin and hugging her curves in the most gorgeous way. Her bra was white and lacey, it was plain but that didn't deter Kylo one bit, he unconsciously licked his lips. Needing her now.

Danny reached behind her back, unclasping her bra and letting it fall to where her dress lay in a crumpled pile on the floor. She dipped her thumbs beneath the hem of her panties, the material rasped against her supple skin as she pulled them away, stepping out of them and standing completely nude and vulnerable before Kylo. Yet she wasn't scared, she didn't feel small under his gaze, her chest swelled with pride and something else and she saw his eyes flow with hunger. He wanted her. And he wanted her bad.

Kylo outstretched his hand, nodding for her to take it, in which she did. He pulled her closer, taking both her hands and setting her to work on unbuttoning his shirt as he meddled with his belt. He stripped quickly, but let her take her time exposing his torso to her, she'd seen his bare once before but it never got easier raking her eyes over the broad expanse of rippling muscle that sat snug beneath his alabaster skin. He was finally as nude as she was, he tried to move to a stand but she stopped him, keeping his gaze and pressing the heels of her palms into his chest. His mouth moved to say something but she stopped him, crashing her lips to his, taking control again. Kylo snaked his hand through her hair, catching in the waving ashen-blonde locks that tangled around his brute fingers. She moaned into his mouth as he tugged lightly and she crawled into his lap, straddling his strong thighs and already feeling his excitement as his achingly hard cock stood upright between their bodies. He caught her lip between his teeth when he felt her slick cunt catch on his cock, teasing him and sending his heart rate spiking through the roof. Kylo tangled his tongue into her mouth, one hand still firmly snug in her hair while the other gripped her hip and pulled her closer, begging for any friction he could get.

"Fuck Kitten." He growled. Feeling he rub against him harder and whining at the friction that caught on her aching clit.

They kissed and kissed and kissed until it was too much, she peppered his jaw with feather light pecks as she reached her hand between their bodies, taking his red-angry cock in her palm and jerking lightly. He grumbled in his throat, teeth tugging at the skin of her neck as she lined the head of his dick with her slick pussy, she rubbed him against her before she finally sank down onto him. They both moaned filthily as he hit her cervix, already impossibly deep just from the first push home. Kylo took her face in his palm and bought her in for another dirty kiss, too much teeth and too much tongue as she set to riding him. Supple thighs already cramping as she tried to set a steady rhythm, Kylo couldn't hold it, he fucked his hips up into her. She whined and jolted, gripping his biceps as she groaned open mouthed onto his lips, they shared breathes as they moaned obscenely. Her inner walls were soaked and fluttered around his cock as he fucked into her, slamming her hips down into him as he humped up into her. Her vision swam and she felt her fingernails pierce his skin as his next thrust came up particularly brutal, she cried into the crook of his neck, hushed whispers and strangled praises spilling so quickly past her lips she couldn't catch them. She had no idea what she was saying.

"K-Kylo I'm close." She panted. Brow sweaty and forehead creased as he fucked her harder, she got braver, knees stabbing into her mattress as she lifted herself off him and sank back down. Creating a whole new sensation that had Kylo moaning into her neck, catching the skin of her throat in his teeth. Leaving blossoming marks of blue and purple in his wake.

"Me too Kitten. Me too." He groaned. Hissing through gritted teeth as he felt his cock throb, begging for release.

Her walls clamped around him and he lost it, taking his hand away from her hips and rubbing his thumb furiously over her clit as he kissed her. Sucking the sweet tang of fruit and sugar off her tongue and taking her bottom lip between his teeth, she tangled her arms around his neck, tugging on his hair as she rode herself to release. She screamed his name, the decibels were deafening and her cunt snapped around him like a vice, trapping him as he came along with her. With one last deep rutt of his hips he spilled himself inside of her, painting her silk inner walls with his seed and moaning into her mouth as he did. Stars swirled in Danny's vision, blinding her as she fell limp into Kylo's chest, sticky - sweaty bodies melting together as they heaved blissfully.

"Best deal I ever made Kitten." He rumbled lowly against her scalp, pecking a kiss to her sweaty hairline.

She craned her neck up, meeting those swirling honey-amber eyes as the illuminated themselves in the post afterglow of great sex. She combed his damp locks out of his face, sweeping them back off his forehead and letting herself see clearly those eyes she adored so much. She cupped his cheeks, loving the way the skin of his cheeks dimpled beneath her palms as she smiled. She wished he would do it more. It was Kylo that closed the distance, plucking another gentle kiss to her lips and savouring the taste of her. She pulled away smiling.

"Shower. Dinner. Sleep?" She chuckled. Peppering another soft kiss to the dimples of his smirk.

"Round two in the shower. Dinner. Round three in the bed. Then sleep." He corrected. Smirking like the devil.

"You pay for take-out then you have yourself a deal."

She challenged.

She gasped when she felt him grow hard inside her again, cock twitching deep in cunt as he grinned darkly at her.

"I wouldn't have it any other way Kitten."

He growled.

The rest of the night consisted of good food, great sex and even better company. Kylo drifted off to sleep with a fucked-out blissful Kitten purring against his chest, sleeping soundly as she sought out his body warmth. For the first night in years he fell asleep peacefully without his demons tucking him in. 

———————————————————————————

I hope you enjoyed! <3

~ Just a lil' update for you guys ~

I'm back at work now after the whole COVID-19 thing so yeh that's a thing...I work 40+ hours a week and this means that my writing and fanfics will be taking a backseat for a bit just while I get settled back into my routine. This means that different fics will be updating in various weeks, but Lethal Lust will be be main focus <3

Also a shoutout to @karla-hurtado and @MattsCuteFriendSam ! Thank you for the lovely messages you left <3 annoying I can't answer them because my email is verified but I appreciate eventually vote - comment - and message you leave me 🖤


	11. Sinners Welcome

It had been three days since Kylo disappeared, dropping off the radar completely and not causing so much as a stir or a ripple in the vast ocean of the city. Three suns had risen and three suns had set, each one painting the slabs of concrete in a balmy sheet of pastel yellow across Danny's apartment.

She tried to forget about it, she tried not to think that her honesty and actions had driven Kylo away. But that nagging sensation at the back of her traitorous brain was screaming, bellowing her name and chastising her for fucking things up. Not that there was anything there to fuck up, not really, there were no feelings; no thread-woven strings that were bound tight to a specific label or idea. She was just there, at his mercy when he needed to chase away his lows by getting his favourite high. High on Kitten. Only to come crashing down to earth once again, hard, his soul and bone splintered from the force he would allow himself to fall at. Not a care or thought was thrown Danny's way, she was left be, left with her own thoughts that blindsided her to the truth. The truth that she was nothing. And always would be nothing.

It was easy for her to feel okay when the sun was high and ceaseless in the sky, she filled her lulling hours with her hobby. Cramming as much work as she could while sat up in that breathtaking art studio, alas her mind would fall to who had specifically gifted it to her. Tears speared her eyes and her chest ached with a tight coil of disappointment, she was dumb to think anything more of the relationship between Kylo and herself. He was out of her league in every sense of the word, she was a toy to him, and the minute she was broken or no longer in his taste he'd throw her out for the newer model. That was just the way the cookie crumbled in her world, all her life she'd been met with disappointment and despair. Her journey into adulthood would be no different. Just as much pain and sorrow as the years before.

Her circumstances were different at night however, laid in her empty sheets with a cold chill encasing her heart and soul. She was downright miserable. And it pissed her off because she didn't know why, of course she couldn't deny the overwhelming sense of warm content she felt with Kylo in her bed, but at the same time; she needed to remember just how coldly he'd left her. And not just on one occasion. Yes she might have told him to leave once or twice and she might have left him stood alone in that alleyway but nether the less, he never fought to stay. He took it on the chin and walked away, left like it didn't even pain him to do so. Danny figured that was her answer, it was painless to him that she left him, perhaps she was saving him the hassle of turning her down himself. Her pillows were damp from the fallen tears she'd shed and her home comforts didn't feel like comforts anymore, her crummy apartment was devoid of anything that made her feel bright. Everything she had was now thrown into the studio, Danny crammed it full of all her favourite trinkets and artworks, unfinished canvases were propped against the cream painted walls and she had jars upon jars of brushes and tools sitting idly on the wide pane of the window cills. The last three empty days had given her more then enough time to get settled, she convinced Paige and Finn to help her move some of her things and they even scraped enough money together to order take-out. They sat on the chalky paint splodged floor and ate it right out of the boxes, nothing but the noise of clanking chopsticks and hums of content echoing around the now not-so-empty space. Danny was glad her friends didn't pry into things too much, they knew she'd been eyeing up the studio but they didn't need to know that she wasn't just renting it anymore. The place was in her name now. All hers. No one or nothing could take it away. Not now. Not ever.

Her time of absence from the club was coming to a close. Soon she would be forced to face her demons once again and there would be no escaping Jake's trap, Danny knew it to be true, he really could ruin her. She wasn't ashamed of her source of income at all, it was no secret to anyone. But she couldn't risk Jake's spouted lies escaping into the real world beyond the strip club doors, poisoned words from a twisted man would stir things she wouldn't be able to outrun. And now she no longer had Kylo to fall back on, he'd made it very clear that she was to tell him before she returned. How could she? The man had gone M.I.A and he expected her to run to him when she needed him, Danny wouldn't stoop so low. He'd made it clear how he felt through his absence, if he truly did care, he sure as hell wouldn't just disappear on her like that.

On the evening of the fourth day Danny found her self across the city, she caught the subway downtown and tried her luck to find a small grocery store Paige had put her onto. It was an authentic Japanese market but their fresh produce was cheap, along with other perishables that would come in handy to keep her cupboards stocked. She would have taken her car had she not found the brakes cut two days ago, Danny didn't know much about mechanics but she could see clear as day that it was done deliberately. She tried not to worry too much, given the part of the city she lived she figured it could have been any random passerby, she barely had any real enemies out there. Besides Jake, but severing ratty old car brakes didn't seem his style. She never bothered to call the cops, they'd only take a lame statement and add it to the growing pile of unsolved crimes stacked high on their office desks. So she didn't bother. So it looked like the subway and her own two feet would have to suffice until she saved enough to repair her car. Which wouldn't be any time soon by the looks of things.

When Danny arrived at the market she was awestruck, it was gorgeous, sights and smells that filled her senses with an unfamiliar sense of warmth. It was homey and friendly, she couldn't decipher the greeting she was bombarded with but she was polite and tried her best nonetheless. She roamed the isles and stocked her basket full of bean sprouts, noodles, spice pastes, and other fresh produces like radishes and meats. It would tide her over a few days at least but anything beat saltine crackers and cereal. She paid and bowed her head to the gentle store clerk. She was an old bow-spined Japanese woman with greying hair and large round glasses, her eyes were glassy but held so much kindness within them. Her smile was thin and her skin was weathered but a warmth radiated from every pore. Danny couldn't stop smiling after the woman had complimented her eyes and skin, the young woman's blush was unbearable when the aged woman commented on her 'child bearing hips'.

By the time she reached the subway Danny's arms and feet ached, the sky grew darker and the cities lights sparked to life and blared overhead. She was smart enough to bring her headphones, setting her bags at her feet as she found a free seat on the underground train. Her music drowned out the roaring noise of the transport and the rowdiness of the other passengers. She slipped into a little world of her own, failing to notice a tall brooding stranger enter the rail compartment she was sat in. His clothes were dark and his hoodie was pulled high over his head, hiding his face from the world outside.

Danny's eyes were focused out of the window, despite the lack of anything to watch pass she figured it was better the making any unwanted eye contact with another person. She was drained.

A booming voice called her stop but she failed to hear it, not thinking to turn down her music enough to hear the tannoys announcements. Her eyes widened to saucers when she saw her stop race behind to shrink into the distance after the subway began moving again, passengers had already departed and the doors had long since closed before she even clocked she was meant to get off. She jolted from her seat and palmed the cool glass beneath her finger tips, fogging the window with a deflated breath as she accepted her short coming. This would mean getting off at the next stop only to have to get a train back in the direction she'd already come, using her phone she quickly checked the subway timings, and to her dismay; the next one back to her stop was delayed for maintenance and wasn't for another 40 minutes. Danny pressed back into her seat, exhaling heavily and screwing her eyes shut. Just one day was all she asked for, one day where everything just passed by without a hitch. There was always something out of the ordinary or out of place, things were never just lacklustre these days.

With brown bags in hand Danny hopped off at the next stop, trailing up the cold steps and back tracking down to the opposite subway line. It was later at night then she expected, having walked most of the way from the station to the store and back again time wasn't really on her side. The food bags crumpled and folded as she sat down on a free bench, the cool metal bit at her exposed skin and the scratched texture of carved in names and phallic symbols caught her attention. Danny set her bags beside her and stuffed her phone away, resting her head against the back of the seat and letting her tired mind drift away just a tad; without Kylo and Vicrul in her life things seemed strange. Like a little part of her was missing, that scared Danny. It meant she was growing too attached, beginning to feel things she should never feel.

From the shrouded shadows behind her a cigarette was flicked and landed just across from her feet. She sat straighter and began to crane her neck towards the cause but she was stopped, the fold of an elbow wrapped around her throat and leather gloved fingers clamped over her mouth. Danny jerked away and tried to scream but the sounds died away, withering in her throat so she was forced to swallow them back down into nothingness. Her body was buzzing with adrenaline and her fight or flight response was kicking into full gear, she needed to get away.

"Keep screaming and I'll rape you."

His voice was muffled but not completely unintelligible, Danny could make out his foreign watered a little too clearly for comfort. Like it was familiar to her. From what she could feel he was big, large enough to challenge Kylo's stature almost. His hands and his arms were strong and his grip was violent. Killer. His words fell straight into the pits of her stomach, paralysing her motions and causing her breath to stray in her throat. She swallowed; or tried to atleast.

"I'm taking my hand away and you're going to stay real fucking quiet, got it?"

Danny felt him shift against her back, readying to move himself away if only an inch. She was in a trance, blinded with fear and broken pride. She nodded weakly, tears burning her eyes as she screwed them shut, forcing them to fall over the round of her cheeks. He must have noticed, a strained chuckle whispering from the darkness of his hooded face.

"Don't cry now, I'm not here to hurt you. Much."

She hiccuped something that was a mix between anger and defeat, still rigid but weakly inching away from the man as he removed his arm and hand. Danny could smell him from how close he was, like teakwood and tobacco, even as he moved away his musk still lingered. She didn't know where to put herself and she flinched when he came fully into her view, she was wrong before; he more then likely outmatched Kylo. He was beastly; with meaty shoulders that struggled to stay bound beneath the material of his hoodie and long-lumber legs that carried him all too carefully towards her. She wasn't sure what sound came out of her mouth when he dropped to his knees infront of her, gripping both her knees in his hands and shoving them apart. Her brain was telling her to strike out, to run, flee; but she was frozen. In fear and confusion. The man's face was still covered and shrouded in the shadow of his hood, still hiding his identity. Hiding the immense and intoxicating danger that laid dormant in his forsythia eyes. Danny's eyes were squinted shut in anticipation. She opened her eyes in just enough time to catch sight of him resting the back of his head against her inner thigh, situating his shoulders to stand between her parted legs as he sat on the filthy cold-concreted floor. With the man completely facing away from her Danny took the opportunity to scan her surroundings, taking in every exit, every possible escape she had. Danny flinched when she felt him trace his leather clad finger tips over her bare ankle, reminding her he was still there. How could she forget?

"No point doll, you wouldn't get too far." He gifted softly. He was mocking her. Playing a game.

It unnerved her. Not the words he spoke, but the fact he didn't even need to look at her to know what she was doing, what she was thinking. He reminded her too much of two particular men clouding her thoughts these days, in a haunting way. They all shared the same traits, but she wasn't left to her own thoughts for very long.

The mystery man reached over his shoulder, snatching Danny's hand from where it was braced to her chest and bringing it to the hood of his jacket, he left her too it after that. Hoping she was smart enough to catch his drift, she was. Gently she tugged it backwards, revealing a full head of silky onyx black locks, he had it pulled back into a knot at the back of his head and some stray hairs were mussed from the friction of his hood. Danny was sure if he let it free it could possibly match the length of her own.

"Who are you?" She whispered, as if anyone else were there to hear their conversation.

He didn't say anything. shimmying backwards slightly so he was closer. The man snatched her hand again, bringing it to the front portion of his head and forcing her to press the pads of her fingertips into his scalp.

"I have a killer headache. How about you help me with my problem and I'll help you with yours, deal?"

Danny didn't answer him verbally, yet she pressed her fingers further into his scalp and began meticulously massaging his head. He sighed a dry chuckle, further mocking her like before.

"Just how long do you think you can keep this up? All this pretending."

He moved a hand to his face and immediately his voice rang clearer, from the angle Danny could see the black pollution mask clasped tightly between his gloved fingers, resting against his propped up knee. What Danny didn't know, was that his gloves hid away his bloodied and bruised knuckles, skin split and sore from his day's errands.

When did this become the new normal? For strangers to walk into Danny's life and pretend to know her better then she even knew herself. It formed knots in her stomach and lodged her heart in her throat.

'All this pretending'

Danny feared he knew too much, acting daft was useless, she was always that transparent apparently. Her farther had always said it too.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm fine." She muttered, trying to convince herself more then anyone.

The stranger paused for a moment. As if really listening to what she had to say, or perhaps just choosing his pick of facts that would prove her wrong.

"What exactly do you know of Ren?" He asked. Tone flat and precise.

"What does he have to do with this?"

"Everything Kitten."

Danny's fingers stilled, nails threatening to bite at the strangers skin. Even though she couldn't see it, his smirk thickened, stretching over his sharp jaw.

"Don't call me that." She bit back, trying to come across much more menacing then she was.

"Why not? That's what Ren calls you, and let's not forget about Vic now. They've both got you under their thumbs."

The stranger reached back for the third time, pulling at Danny's wrist and causing her to almost bend her chest right over his head. In that moment, he looked skyward, causing their visions to dance with one another. His irises were painted like golden sunflowers, dim from the flickering subway lights yet brighter then a glowing moon. Danny's eyes didn't know where to search first, from the stubble lining his prominent jaw to the crease of his folded eyelids. Alas very quickly; she noticed the deep indent of a scar that ran left from the underside of his chin and ended just shy of his cheek. It was an old wound, silvery-pink with age but still very much visible at this close proximity.

"Tell me who you are." Her voice was whisper, uneven breath dancing unintentionally over the strangers face.

He opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it again, he sat up straight again, almost knocking his forehead against Danny's as he went. She overstepped and she knew it. But she wanted answers, needed them in-fact.

"Please." She felt pathetic for the begging, she thought if she prodded him enough he'd break.

Danny returned her fingers to his hair, weaving through the silk strands and massaging his scalp. This entire ordeal was insane, two strangers sharing such tenderness like this. Despite it not being even an ounce tender, this man was mocking her, revelling in her obedience to him. He startled her when he stood, abruptly bolting upright so his knees cracked and popped loudly from the force of it. Danny braced herself for a hit, a cut, a slap; anything. But none of it came, she peeked her eyes open and she watched him fumble in his pocket for something.

The strange man snatched her arm again, quick as a flash, leaving her gasping when the cold biting leather or his gloves met her bare skin. She turned her head quickly, ready for a searing pain or the sound of snapping bone. Something light and rectangular was placed in her palm, his leather digits forcing her fingers to fold around the tiny slither of card.

"Don't let him find that." He gifted smoothly.

"Who?"

"Either of them."

The man pulled his hood back over his head, concealing his face once more and burying his fists into his pockets thereafter. He began to retreat, moving languidly as the lights of the next subway train began to rise from the distance. Danny tried to watch him carefully, watched his every step as he moved over the foot bridge and slowed to stand opposite her on the next platform.

"Why did you give me this?" She bellowed while holding up her still fisted hand, hoping he could hear her over the screech of the incoming subway car.

"Think of it as your get out of jail free card."

He shouted, a smirk ghosting over his cheeks.

Danny winced as the subway screamed to a stop in front of her, blinding her view of the mystery man.

She scrambled into the car quicker then she cared to admit, not forgetting her neglected groceries by the bench. She rushed towards the window, but alas, the man was gone. She looked left and right, up and down, not even an indicator that he'd been there at all. Nothing but the small strip of card snug in her palm showing that her encounter had even been real.

Slowly Danny unfolded her fingers, her body jolted when the cart began to move and she blindly used her free hand to grab for a rail. When she finally let her eyes fall to the card, her heart dropped well past her stomach, her insides were in knots and her chest felt tight. Too tight. It was painful.

He couldn't be...

Four days earlier

"This better be fucking good Hux."

Kylo was stood rigid. Adjacent to Vic with heaving chests that matched one another, neither of them got shaken so easily. But with just one phone call, that all changed. Merely the mention of a certain name had both of their blood running that ounce chillier.

"Did you not hear me on the phone?" The ginger seethed, nursing a busted-bloodied lip with ice wrapped in a now red stained cloth.

"I did, and I call bullshit."

Armitage drew away the blood soaked cloth, staring daggers straight at Kylo. Vicrul cleared his throat to break the brewing tension, but neither of them dropped their glares.

"If he's here then we have bigger things to worry about, wearing each other down will only make things harder. It's exactly what he wants."

"What do you mean if he's here? Look at my face!"

All three men exchanged glances, brows knit and jaws set. Kylo took the opportunity to scan the room again, after arriving he'd been too wrapped up in getting straight to the point. Only now did he see the damage inflicted on Hux's office space, books were scattered from the shelves and the wooden chair thrown back from beneath the desk was splintered. The room was in disarray, strewn papers and a broken desk lamp. No wonder Hux was so pissed off. Kylo drank it all in. If he knew his former brother well, which he did, then he knew for a fact that he could have caused so much damage then this. They were all cut from the same cloth, all six of them. When they were separated so were their mindsets, but only one of them was foolish enough to let himself fall astray. Other's would have called him brave for double crossing the First Order, no one did that and came out unscathed.

Kylo let his thoughts roll over for a split second before everything clicked, his russet-amber eyes widened and he turned in a flash, moving back towards the door.

"And where do you think you're going Ren?" Armitage spat his words, quickly mopping up the crimson coloured spittle that exited over his lip.

"I need to see someone." He didn't bother craning his head to speak to Hux directly, he was on his way out already, leaving Vic stood merely a foot away from Armitage.

"The girl?"

Kylo froze, turning on his heel at a hauntingly slow pace. He saw Hux physically retract, shoulders and spine tensing but his deadly glare not dropping from his face. Kylo's face stayed stoney, mindlessly his fingers fled for the nearest object, a crystal paperweight to his immediate right sufficed. The object flew in Hux's direction at a rapid pace, cutting through the air and almost cutting straight through Armitage. It landed with a thunderous crash, jolting over the Oakwood table and scratching it as it went. Kylo would have caused serious damage if it weren't for Hux's quick reaction, his frown deepened, lips bitten back in a snarl.

"Did I touch a nerve, Ren?" He spat viciously.

This time Kylo turned to Vicrul, chest heaving in lungfuls of air that suffocated him. He wasn't just angry, he was absolutely livid. His blood boiled and his temper was threatening to simmer over, vision beginning to cloud red.

The raven haired male lunged, clasping Vic by the collar of his deep indigo dress shirt. He yanked him forwards so they were nose to nose, sharing heated breaths as they both heaved.

"You fucking told him didn't you?" Kylo seethed. Angrier then ever before.

"I did it for your sake, she's covered now."

Vicrul tried to reason, something he was often too good at. The man could chat his way from death in an instant, sharp tongue and deadly smirk helping him along the way. It didn't work on Kylo however, they'd existed together for too long. Kylo knew all the tricks in the German's little book, he'd helped the fucker write the damn thing. It angered Kylo further that Vic thought he was truly helping, like his spilt truths to Hux were for the better. It was Kylo's place to cover these things, not Vic's and certainly not Hux's. If he wanted his Kitten protected then he'd do it himself, he didn't need help.

"I didn't ask for your opinion or your fucking help."

Kylo's fingers fisted the German's shirt to the point the fabric began to stretch and quietly shriek in objection. Vic kept calm, something else he was also far too good at, no matter how close he was to a beating or cheating death, he never even blinked an eye. His blood stayed cool and his heart rate even, that in itself was more terrifying then Kylo's outburst at this moment.

"You didn't need to ask, I took the fucking liberty. I care for her too. More then you know."

Kylo's vision bled crimson, his large fist connecting with the left side of Vicrul's chiseled jaw. Vic didn't fight the blow, nor did he move to strike Kylo back. He knew his brother's pride would have been knocked, his poisoned mind seeping with unforgettable thoughts that would plague him in his sleep. Vic knew that Kylo didn't see himself as a strong man, he still saw the reflection of a skinny and pitiful little boy when he looked in the mirror. The same little boy he had once been, a child that was born into nothing, unloved and unwanted. He also knew that Kylo wanted to protect Kitten all by himself, both men knew he couldn't do it alone. The raven haired killer was just too damn stubborn to admit it.

"Is that why you kissed her that day? Because you care all so fucking much, you're a fucking joke Kaiser."

Both Vic and Hux looked taken aback from the knowledge Kylo had shared. Both of the kiss and the use of his birth name, it must have been years since he'd heard the sound of his deceased identity falling from someones lips. It appeared Vicrul didn't share everything with his ginger counterpart. At first Kylo had let this kiss slide, thinking nothing of it, but the thought of it still lingered in his mind. Only fuelling his rage when he was teetering on the age of breaking.

"You're taking this too personally. Let's talk outside."

Vic was still being held by the collar, one of Kylo's fists balling the shirt while the other was trembling at his side. Throbbing from the hit he'd dealt his non-biological brother.

"What would you have done had she let you into her place? Would you have fucked her? Would you have even told me if you did?" Kylo was practically screaming his words.

"You know that's not what this is." Vic was growing short tempered, beginning to seethe himself.

"I can't believe this." Hux barely whispered, Kylo and Vic both glanced at him in turn, taking in the genuine look of hurt that painted his features.

Vic snapped. Retrieving his M9 from the back of his waistband, he shoved it to Kylo's temple but the man didn't even flinch, he knew Vicrul was all bluff. The barrel of his weapon teased the skin of Kylo's forehead but he didn't break, a smirk painting his lips.

"Do it, go on. Grow some fucking backbone for once in your life! Fucking go ahead pussy what are you waiting for? Shoot me." Kylo barked in a venomous tone.

"Typical of you to want the easy way out isn't it? Wouldn't be the first time you've had a gun to your head, Only your not the one holing it this time."

All too suddenly a flash of white-orange flared and the deafening blare of a shot rang across the room. Vicrul's gun fell to the ground with a clatter, the man's palm and fingers searing with a burning pain having had his firearm shot out of his hand. Kylo was wide-eyed, snapping his neck back and forth between Vic cradling his sore hand and Armitage who still had his arm outstretched, small handgun held tightly between shaky fingers. The ginger's body was convulsing, more then likely the foreign adrenaline pumping through his veins causing his nervous system to go into overdrive. Kylo saw his throat bob as he swallowed and watched as his eyes darted around the room, processing what he had just done.

"Are you fucking insane? You could have taken my fucking arm off!" Vic shouted, baring his teeth as he rubbed over his affected hand.

"Oh don't be so melodramatic Vicrul, nothing you don't deserve." Hux sounded defeated, falling back slightly so the small of his back was caught by his desk, letting the gun in his hand scatter across it.

All three men took a deep breath, each one having the common sense to allow one another to calm. But of course; Kylo Ren didn't do calm, nor did he do rational either. He did however have a precise eye, a trait that often slowed him down.

"Safety isn't on." He said the words more to himself then the room, but Hux heard the deep rumble of his whisper.

"What?"

"The gun. Put the safety on."

Reluctantly the ginger complied, making an adjustment to the gun and placing it back on the oakwood desk.

Vic spoke up next, neither of the men in the room bothering to look at him while he spoke.

"So you're telling me you had a gun all this time and yet your office still got ransacked?"

There was no mocking tone to his voice, something that sounded akin to genuine concern lacing his limited voice instead.

Hux passed him a sideways glance, his face unintentionally softening only to harden again.

"I took the same oath the rest of you did, I intend to fulfil it. As I hope you do too."

Although he was addressing Vic directly, Armitage was speaking to both of them, knowing that they held the knowledge of the promise all seven men had sworn by all those years ago. It seemed like so long ago now, despite not being as young or troubled as the rest of the boys, an adolescent Armitage Hux had still taken refuge under the wing of Serkis Snoke. Hoping to find his place in the fitful - unforgiving world he'd been abandoned into, Snoke promised him a brotherhood that would keep him safe till the day he was laid to rest on his deathbed. He'd failed to realise it would be the very brotherhood that was sworn to protect him trying to end him, a rather ironic way to go he thought to himself.

"Fuck the oath and fuck that old cunt too, he was a fucking trafficker, he stole us and made himself out be some sort of fucking messiah. He fucked us all over for life, we can never back away from this now. As for Kenjiro? He'll be seeing Snoke real fuckin' soon."

"Be careful about this Ren, what about that little friend of yours? Jake was it? when exactly are you going to solve that little issue?"

Kylo paused, sending another spiteful glare over towards his least favourite German prick. He just couldn't keep his damn mouth shut.

"I'll kill whoever I find first." His tone was flat and unnerving, deathly cold.

Vic stood straighter, shoving his injured hand deep into his trouser pocket.

"I'm coming too." He tried to assure.

"Like fuck you are." Kylo spat, still not having forgiven Vic's betrayal of trust.

"And what of the girl? Do you ever plan on telling her what you are? What all of you are, she'll find out herself if you're not careful enough Ren."

Kylo stood fast, shoulders staying ridged and brow folding into an uncomfortable crease. He hated that Hux knew about Danny, about his little Kitten, he had never intended for things to go this far. But he just couldn't help himself, from the very first taste of her he was a man emaciated, he need to have his fix. And now Armitage knew she existed, he knew just how involved she now was with Kylo, and unknowingly; she was now involved with the most notorious band of assassins known to the continent. If not the rest of the galaxy.

"The girl is non of your concern, nor will she be mine from now on."

Vic could see straight through Kylo, he'd always been able to do that, never not picking up on his inner emotions or switch in demeanours, Hux didn't hold that skill. He and Kylo had never been fond of each other, the longest they'd spent in a room together was Snoke's funeral. Of course the old bastard required the most tailored service he could afford in his otherwise empty will.

"What are you going to do?"

Vic hushed, almost scared to hear what tripe would spill from Kylo's lips.

A beat. No hesitation.

"Whatever I have to."

With one quick sweep the ravenette killer was gone. Slamming the door in his wake. Leaving Hux and Vic to digest his intentions, they both knew they weren't empty threats he was making.

They were promises

Back to 4 days later

Danny didn't know how long she'd been home, and she didn't care to look. Time seemed to pass languidly, it's suffocating presence wiping the oxygen from the room. Her groceries were abandoned on the kitchen counter and her shoes were thrown haphazardly by the door. Upon arriving home she couldn't sit still, pacing around the small living space or fidgeting with hands. She'd pulled a small amount of hair out accidentally, a nervous habit of pulling at each strand till it came away from her scalp. Danny didn't know what to do, nor what to think, that tiny slither of card the stranger had placed in her hand had resonated with her more then it should have. It was identical to Vicrul's, from the embossed words to the thick luxurious card. Printed in a neat font was the name. A name Danny didn't know but she knew she would soon learn all about it, from it's history to it's owner.

Kenjiro Ushar

The man had provided a phone number too, she studied it till it was embedded into the very fibres of her brain. The stranger she'd met was scarred, mangled and alone. Yet so strong, so unbothered by the situation he had created. He didn't scream wealth, he didn't need to, his presence alone was enough to strangle anyone's senses. Danny had seen eyes like his before, they reminded her of Kylo's, sharp as flint but so utterly soft deep down. Hiding oceans of emotions that were begging to be freed.

If she hadn't had her suspicions before, after reading the card, she certainly knew part of what was going on now. They were all connected, all three of them, they had to be. The cards, the scars, the looks; all of it. These were men of honest works, Danny never judged a book by it's cover. But it was hard not too when it was worn at the spine and torn at the seams, something was off. Yet she couldn't pinpoint it.

Danny did know one thing. She was going to find out for herself just what was going on.

The next hour past by her in a blur, the heavens roared with unforgiving torret of rain that pounded the concrete streets and blinded Danny's vision. Before she'd even hailed a taxi she was soaked through to the bone, ice shards of water seeping straight through her ample skin. Whatever little make up she'd slapped on this morning was no doubt smudged and strewn across her face by now, but it didn't matter. Her destination was set, the cab drove her up and over the familiar rolling hill she'd only passed over a handful of times. Yet it bought a slither of warmth striking through her cold frame, was this affection? The thought of seeing Kylo again making her feel this way, it was foreign.

The weather didn't cease, she kept her head low as she scurried through the open gates to Kylo's luxurious bachelor's palace, she didn't notice the added cars or the dim light glowing through the glossy glass planes of his home. If it could be called that, that defiantly wasn't what Kylo thought of it.

She kept her eyes screwed almost shut as not to lose sight through the rain, aiming for the safety and shelter of his front porch. She made it, dirt stained sneakers crunching the last of the gravel as she stepped over it. Her jeans felt heavy on her hips and her hoodie was moulded to the contour of his body. But that didn't matter, what mattered how was answers. Questions she knew she shouldn't ask, but she would.

Shaky fingers rapped at his front door, dripping with peals of crystal clear raindrops that clung to her skin. No answer. Danny knocked again. Still nothing. The more rational part of her would take that as a queue to leave, either Kylo's pigheadedness keeping him from answering the door or the man wasn't even home. Danny turned her head swiftly, squinting her eyes to try and make out the shadow of Kylo's vehicle parked on the rough gravel of his driveway. The cusp of nightfall and the abusive weather didn't help, she couldn't see a thing, shadows swayed and the rain began to blow at an angle. The slight over hang of structure over Kylo's doorway no longer holding a dry refuge. Danny blew a fogged breath through her blueing lips, body wracking with cursed shivers. She was seconds away from stepping down, cowering away with her tail tucked between her legs. Homeward bound to drown in her own thoughts, to never get the answers she needed. Then she heard it. Or rather, she heard him, days without hearing so much of a whisper from the man she was growing softness for and the first she heard was a guttural cry. He sounded in pain, plagued by something. His bellow was followed by a deafening crash, perhaps a thrown chair or a turned table, Danny didn't know. But her instincts kicked into hyperdrive, for some reason her brain told her that her shoulder could face up to the strength of Kylo's rather expensive front door appendage. A door that was more then likely designed to keep what needed to be out - out. She lunged forward and yanked at the doorknob, squealing when she was met with no resistance at all, only to fall straight through Kylo's doorway.

If the sound of Kylo's screaming had set Danny'sblood alight with fear then she had another thing coming, his floors were stained a deep crimson. There was such much of it that it almost appeared black, the liquid was woven into the rug in the front room and it was splattered up the walls and over pry of the lower kitchen ceiling. Danny's eyes farted around so fast she didn't what to focus on, the noise before had indeed been the crash of wood. Only not the kind from a chair or table falling, rather a wooden bat being used to bludgeon someone in the skull. Her breath ceased and bile crept up her throat, very nearly on it's way out had she not slapped her hand to clasp over her lips.

The sight of Kylo stole her senses, robbed her dry of her sanity. Stealing away the warmth in her chest at the thought of him, it was replaced by disgust, by fear. Watching his shoulders swell with each deep breath he took was like watching a wolf toy with an injured fawn, mocking it's existence with the knowledge he held the power in his hands to end life.

The man she dared say she cared for was hunched over, spine cowled with the dark mess of his hair sweeping over his forehead and vision, thick - defy fingers clasped around the handle of a baseball bat. The end of it smothered red and black, the very thing was splintered from the force he'd used.

Danny didn't know if she dared to look down, to see the lifeless eyes of the person who had met a grisly end at the hands of Kylo Ren. To be smashed in the head to the point they weren't even recognisable was a fait that no many deserved, Kylo's dressed shoes were tipped with blood that pooled from the body at his feet. He was so absorbed in the steadying of his own breathing that he failed to notice Danny stood there, horror filled eyes and a churning stomach threatening to spill over. Then it did, not so quietly she wretched to the point she spilled the sparse content of her stomach in his hallway, choking on her own stomach acid she tried to swallow it down. To also swallow down the thought that she might be next, she'd come here for answers, it appeared she'd gotten them.

"Shit."

It wasn't Kylo's voice Danny heard first, the almost delicate whisper of a curse finding her ears and causing her neck to snap in the direction of the voice. It was Vicrul. Stood with squared shoulders as he mopped his hands with a dishcloth that was seeping in blood. It's when Vic spoke up that Kylo broke away from his trance, shaking the hollowness of his mind away only to let his amber eyes find the gentle sea foam green he'd grown so accustomed to. Danny's eyes had always been so bright and humble, full of glowing swirls of forest stems and spring leaves. Now they were empty, cold and fearful. She was afraid, for the first time since she'd met him.

"D-Dan- ny" A voice gurgled.

She couldn't help but look, ashen blonde hair sticking to her sweat tinted brow as she tried to refocus her eyes on where the voice was coming from. They spoke again, a hushed strangled noise that barely made it's way into her eardrums. That voice was unmistakable, a voice that was used to torment and abuse and belittle. Reduced to a pitiful gargle as he began to drown in the blood that seeped into his throat.

"J-Jake?" The tears rolled, spilling over her cheeks as more vomit crept it's way up her windpipe. Her knees wanted to buckle from beneath her but she wouldn't let them, she needed to get away quick, turn her heel and run.

Vic lodged his foot into Jake's rib cage, winding the man so he was unable to whisper her name again. He cursed something in German, not doubt threatening the dying man on the ground. Danny couldn't top her eyes away from Jake, from the man that had been the bane of her existence over the last year to be bleeding out before her, it wasn't what she imagined. Yes she wanted him to hurt, she wanted him to pay for what he tried to do, for what he did. But the hatred she felt for him fell into pity, he would never be forgiven, but hatred was too exhausting. When she had imagined him being put through his own spout of torture she never envisioned it to be like this, and that's all it was supposed to be.Make believe. Now this was real.

Danny heard the flank of wood but she was already gone, sweeping back through the hallway and bolting straight out of the door she hadn't shut. She almost slipped on the water that had seeped onto Kylo's marble floor from the open door. Her sneakers squeaked and her cheeks burnt but she pushed through it, narrowing her eyes through the onslaught of rain that bombarded her. Danny heard the scream of her name crowding from the depths of Kylo's chest but she ignored it, a tiny ounce of her heart was yearning for him, to let him feed her excuse after excuse over what she had walked into. But right now, she feared her own life was at stake. Her chest tightened when the haunting tall gates of Kylo's driveway gates began to scream and close in, he was trying to trap her. To stop her getting away and telling anyone.

Danny pushed harder. So hard she felt the gravel through the weak souls of her shoes, her body was burning and her mind was screaming. With a hiccup of her chest and the strangled gasp of her throat she was down, knees digging and scraping harshly into the stone. The rain was slashing against her back, soaking her hair and face with icy water that seared. She didn't take notice of her reason for falling, stumbling again on her untied lace that was tangling her feet. She cried harder, practically screaming and fully aware that there was nobody near to hear her.

Just when she thought she'd make it, the heavy black metal of the gates crashed shut, almost catching her face from just how close she'd been to getting away.

Danny sank to her knees, crying hard with her lungs burning through her rib cage, she pulled at her hair, wailing in mental strain. Her life was never meant to lead this way, a path that seemed so far fetched to even be real. She would die alone and unworthy, at the hands of a man she found was the only person she'd ever come close to feeling love for. A love that wasn't real, a love that was one sided. She would die a deadbeat whore with no story or achievements, she doubted she'd ever be found after tonight. Her head was poisoned with thoughts of where she'd end up, thoughts and images that stirred the acid in her stomach once again.

She was deaf to the sound of crushed gravel beneath blood stained brouges and blind to the silhouette of killer that stood out from behind the slashing of rain.

Danny wanted to jerk away when a large hand weaved it's way into the back of her hair, gentle, too gentle. Almost instantly she found herself tired, inhaling something so sickly sweet she wanted to gag. Then she fell into darkness, head lulled into the crook of Kylo's shoulder as he made sure to cover her body from the beating of rain from the black clouds overhead. The raven haired man withdrew the cloth from her face, hating himself for having to do things this way.

He needed to tell her.

____________________________________

I'm embarrassed by how long you guys have waited and yet this is the garbage I give you?

I'm so happy to finally be continuing with the next chapter and I hope it wasn't too much plot in one part? I'm always here to answer questions :)

N x


	12. It Rains In Hell

Danny awoke to the clatter of persistent rain torrets beating against the window. It wasn't gentle, nor did it calm the erratic beating of her heart as it spiked. It rattled her from her trichloromethane induced slumber, tearing her away from her colourless dreams. Or rather her indistinguishable nightmares.

She noticed her surroundings first. Drinking in the not so warm room she was kept in, this wasn't her apartment. She drank in the cold chill encasing the room, lining her ample skin with goosebumps that sent her body into shivers. Next she noticed her lack of clothing, instead one of Kylo's smooth cotton shirts encased her shoulders and was buttoned oddly up her torso, almost like the task had been rushed. Everything reeked of Kylo. His shirt, his pillows, his bedsheets; all of it swirled with the familiar essence of Kylo's warm touch. His cologne was what stood out the most, like it was sat right under Danny's nose. Not letting a single intake of breath pass without smelling his warm skin and tousled hair.

Danny supposed it was better then the reeking stench of her own vomit and rain bitten skin, the thought of last night still had her empty stomach in knots. The last thing she remembered was the heavy weight of defeat crushing her spine, her tears intertwining with the rain as she sat slumped on Kylo's cold gravel driveway. Then darkness. Blissful sleep that was too good to be natural, fragmented shards began to piece together. Her throbbing head began to fit the puzzle together, the faint memory of being cradled to a hot - wet chest. Vic's panicked voice mixing with the deafening silence Kylo provided, the grizzly man didn't utter a word. And that was far more terrifying then his blood curdling screams or bone crushing shouts. He was muted. Although she didn't remember it clearly enough.

Kylo had ripped her soddened clothes from her body and wrapped her up warm, tucking her into his own bed like someone would a young child. He left her after that. Laying her to sleep soundly in his bed like it were any regular night cured the blackness that was clouding his heart, it speared through his life organ like a wooden sword; cracking and splintering. Soon Danny would wake and need answers. And Kylo Ren wasn't prepared for that, he didn't want to feed her more lies, purely due to the fact he knew he couldn't now. She'd seen Jake's splintered skull with her own eyes, nothing he said could tear that image away from her mind. Kylo's blood stained floors and wracking shoulders would forever be imbedded in her memory, Danny would take that grizzly sight to her grave.

The door lock clicked as Kylo shut the door behind himself last night, a heavy sigh heaving from his chest and deflating his shoulders. He had a mess to clean up. One that didn't only involve his blood stained floors.

Danny pulled the bedsheets to her chest, trying and failing to will out the cold that threatened to bite at her skin. She was drained and frightened, the thoughts of lasts night's events and the unknown prominent future were weighing her down, keeping her rooted with her back pressed against Kylo's headboard. She wanted to speak to him, hell, she wanted to scream at him. Was she free to leave on her own accord? Was she even really still here? Danny knew he'd given her something, that sickly sweet smell bought back a blurry memory from the first morning she'd ever woke up in his bed. She thought it had been a dream. Everything was completely and utterly fucked up, her days didn't seem real. She was too plain and safe for this to be taking ahold of her life, Danny didn't make the best choices but by no means did she deserve this.

Not in this life anyways.

Something across the room shifted, startling Danny to the point she was sure a strangled noise blew past her lips.

Kylo was there. His hip leaning against the edge of the window sill as he stared out of the glass plains. He was shirtless with baggy sweats hugging his waist, the chill in the room was blowing in from a gap in the open window. Smoke from the cigarette flush between Kylo's lips swirling around his strong jaw like a sirens spell, he looked tired; drained even. His hair was a tousled mess of dark locks and hehad shadows beneath his sharp-dagger eyes, Danny noticed his jaw was set so hard he could crack his teeth. He flexed it when he took his cigarette between his fingers to rid his lungs of the fermented fog, only having it tick once more when he wrapped his lips around his smoke once again.

Danny's stomach was in knots. She wasn't prepared to see him, and she knew he wasn't about to start his own conversation. But the silence would kill her, it was already hanging heavy in the air like the convicted in a noose, she was strangled by it. Fear and dread ate their way up her spine, shivers now lining her skin and joining with the cold chill encasing her bones.

"You haven't slept." 

She whispered, voice hoarse and partially rough from the acidic bile and uncontrollable sobbing last night.

"Don't do that." His voice was just as quiet but somehow sharper, like carved lead.

"Do what?" Danny damned her meekness, they were past the stage of secrets and games now.

"Try and analyse me."

She tried not to let his words sting, she could see from the crowding of his shoulders and the rigidness of his features that he was fighting himself, fatigue biting at his handsome existence and staining him with the colour blue.

"I don't need to analyse you to know you're tired Kylo."

Her voice grew in harshness but stayed small, she wasn't about to start a screaming match.

Kylo didn't provide a verbal response, nor did he move to look at her directly, he simply let his eyes glance from the window over to her body. Seeing how she tried to hide herself with his sheets, almost like an armour she wished his words and glare couldn't penetrate. A small silence hung in the air for a few minutes, both of them seeming to be looking for words they didn't wish to spill. The ebony haired man finished his cigarette, using his thumb to flick it through the gap in the glass, he turned and a sigh escaped his chest. He propped the small of his back against the window ledge and braced his hands backward on either side of his hips, keeping his head and eyes low.

Kylo listened intently to the rain falling outside, it was heavy and relentless, stray droplets of it catching and splashing through onto his hands from the window. He tried to let it calm him, so many sleepless nights had he spent listening to the beating of rain against his roof and glass structures, wishing for it to sing him to sleep like in his broken childhood. He vaguely remembers someone in his youth speaking to him of the rain, sending him off to bed after being startled by the storm tearing the sky apart outside. They told him that the misted waters from the clouds were a gift, they signalled change and re-birth for the earth to make way for new life. Nurturing the soils and plants that grew down below. His younger self scoffed and muttered something along the lines of 'It's just water', how naive he had been back then. He knew now that he needn't be scared of a storm, he was one himself. A force of nature that bought fear and destruction, he didn't bring change or re-birth. Only chaos.

"I want to go home."

Danny's voice was so hushed it was almost lost to Kylo's ears from the rain assaulting the glass behind him. His eyes snapped to her, as if trying to work out if she had really spoken, or if his mind was letting him believe she did.

"Please..." She breathed, hoping she didn't have to beg him out loud.

Kylo paused for a moment. Thinking carefully about what his next words should be, he could let her go. He could forget all about her, but he wasn't going to lie anymore, alas he wasn't convinced Danny was ready for the entire truth.

Just before he could begin, Danny continued.

"I don't want to do this anymore."

"Danny I-"

"I just want everything to be okay, things were going well and then you left and I just-."

I just need to know who I'm falling for.

The man was startled, like his nonexistent feathers had been ruffled. Although her voice was quiet he could tell she was choking on her words, he heard her heave through each syllable, the sentences clogging her throat.

"I don't know what to tell you." His brow was furrowed and his fingers curled around the window sill behind him.

"Tell me who you are." She didn't mean to pester but she felt it was the only way to keep him talking.

Kylo let out a breath of air he didn't know he'd been holding in, his shoulders in-crowding but still tense.

"If I tell you what I am, you won't come back."

The man scoffed, a soft laugh of irony rattling his chest. He sounded so weak for that, admitting that he didn't want her to go. He didn't exactly want her to stay either, he knew what happened when people played with fire, they got burnt. And burnt bad.

"Maybe. But I need to know, please."

Danny shifted her knees so they were bent upwards, crowding them towards herself.

He took the bait, pushing himself away from the window and turning his back to Danny. He wasn't sure he could look into those soft seabream eyes of hers when she found out the truth. They'd shatter like blown glass crystals, he didn't want to see that.

When his weight dipped into the plush mattress he felt her move, shifting away from him slightly so there was still a small distance between them.

He didn't blame her. 

"I need you to promise me something."

Kylo didn't think his voice could even go as quiet as it did when he finally let the words fall from his tongue, he pushed them out so quick he wasn't sure Danny had time to catch them. Her drawn out silence gave him no comfort either, he was swallowed by the silence she provided, the rain and swaying branches in his garden being the only source of background noise.

"You can't tell anyone who or what you saw, I can't promise your protection if you do."

Suddenly Danny jerked from the bed and Kylo's eyes followed her, dark irises blown wide with a mix of anger and confusion. She darted right for his en-suite and barely made it past the door before Kylo heard her retching and choking.

He cursed under his breath and quickly followed her, she'd attempted to shut the door as she bolted through but he slammed his palm flat against the wood, stopping her.

Danny's vomit came up heavy. It choked her windpipe and burned her throat, her eyes streamed with tears and her chest heaved with painful sobs. The lack of food over the past 16 hours hadn't helped one bit, she didn't eat before she left home yesterday. She groaned as she hunched over the porcelain bowl, clutching her fingers around the edges of it. Her entire head was throbbing and her mind felt numb, she didn't hear Kylo approach, she only knew he was there when his fingers brushed the back of her neck and caressed her hair. She tried to bat him away but he didn't even flinch, Kylo pulled her hair from her face and held it behind her shoulders; making sure it didn't end up in a mess.

She only cried harder when his other hand found her back, stiffly rubbing small circles as a way to try and comfort. It did anything but that, his hands were bathed in blood, and yet she'd never felt such strong emotion for someone. Those feelings hurt more then the acidic bile clawing at her throat and tongue.

Danny's crying didn't cease even when her stomach lining was emptied, the physical pain only added to the already nerve damaging mental strain she was feeling. Kylo had barely gotten any words out and she'd already crumbled, whatever he'd given her last night wasn't fully out of effect yet.

"I want to go home." She managed in a hoarse whisper.

Kylo's fingers stopped tracing patterns over her back when the words slipped from her lips, almost like he fully expected her to stay. He wasn't going to keep her beyond her will, that was counterproductive, but he needed to drill it into her that she couldn't breathe a word. Not to anyone. She had to die with his secrets, to anyone else; that would have been a huge ask. But not to Kylo

"I don't think that's wise." He tried to soften his tone but it came out cold like shards of flint.

"Because you drugged me?" Danny craned her neck to spit her words at him, all sense of timidness now thrown out the window.

Kylo snatched his hands away from her, reading her body language as she pushed herself backwards so she could be as far away from him as possible. She let her eyes fall, focussing on the tile floor of Kylo's bathroom. Guilt and anxiety was eating it was through Danny's gut, as much as she wanted to let him explain and get his point across, she couldn't help but feel she shouldn't listen. He would groom her to believe whatever he spewed past those full velvet lips of his, she'd believe every word of it too. She was naive and lonely, but she wasn't about to let that cloud her judgment. In the past, a cheating boyfriend or a lying friend would easily be able to weasel their way back into her life through lies upon lies.

A man who had killed another man was different.

"I had no choice Kitten." He chose not to raise his voice at her.

"You had every choice Kylo, and don't call me that. You could have let me go." She withdrew into herself, feeling foolish for even trying to intimidate him with her tone.

Everything hurt. Seeing him so tired and soft was almost domestic, his hair had been kissed by the pillows when he'd actually tried to sleep, his cheeks were rosey and his eyes were still glossy. In any other circumstance, all these things would have bought an overwhelming warmth to her chest. Instead the only warmth she felt was the fallen tears cascading over her cheeks.

"And have you run to the authorities screaming bloody murder? Not a chance." He scoffed as he stood from his crouch, leaning a hip against his sink and crossing his arms over the wide expanse of his bare chest.

Danny laughed dryly. The fact he thought she would actually squeal was almost comical to her, even if she wanted to, she wouldn't. She knew she couldn't, despite his actions she couldn't bring herself to better him. A lowly girl like her wouldn't be taken seriously no matter what.

"This is bullshit." She choked. Still laughing inwardly towards herself at her predicament.

"Yes. It is." He seethed, he turned so swiftly that Danny didn't see it coming. His brute fist lodged itself in the mirror hanging above the sink, it shattered and splintered to the tiles.

Danny reeled back as far as she could, Kylo grunted in his chest; his hand still fisted and dripping crimson red blood to the floor.

He didn't stop there. He practically tore the bathroom door from it's hinges as he passed through it, Danny couldn't see what he destroyed next but she could hear everything. Her brain didn't attach to the sound of snapping wood and thrown furniture, it was the screams that tore from his throat that crippled Danny to the bone. She could practically feel the vibrations from his larynx through the floor boards. Danny didn't dare follow him, not when he was like this, there was no clear ending.

More tears spilled over her cheeks when he didn't stop, more painfully loud crashes and dull thuds echoing through the morning spill. She wanted it all to stop. When the chaos quietened she attempted to stand on her shaky knees, quickly rinsing her tongue and swallowing a mouthful of water to rid the acidic taste burning her throat. Danny crept over to the door, her near nakedness becoming more apparent when a shiver licked up her legs and the length of her spine. From the thick silence she thought Kylo had left, gone to tear through the rest of his empty yet vast home. But he was there again, bare back facing her as his shoulders rose and fell hurriedly, heavy breaths ricocheting off the walls. His alabaster skin glistened with a thin sheet of perspiration, Danny was just now noticing the freckles and moles that sparsely decorated his spine and shoulders. Or more obviously, a thick band of scarring that crept from the right side of his back dimples and crept forwards towards the underside of his ribs. How had she failed to notice it before? During the sex, when they shared a bed and even this morning. How had she missed such a deep - aged wound...She'd felt the rough skin of his palms and ran her fingertips to the scar slashing across his eye, she'd even felt the slight bumpiness of skin on his upper back when they fucked or when she traced patters over his skin when he slept. Wear and tear from his childhood she had first assumed, bacne was a thing, that could have left his skin slightly marred. Or even a freak accident some years ago could have caused it, now everything was fitting together.

Jake. Vic. The blood. Kylo's job. The scars. The lies.

"Kylo I-"

"Get out."

She moved to step closer to him but recoiled at his words and tone, he was literally spitting them at her, raking his fingers through his raven hair and tugging in his anguish. His chest rattled and heaved as he tried to steady himself, falling short in his attempts.

"Kylo please just me-"

"I said get the fuck out!" He screamed, turning suddenly and sharply. He crowded Danny backwards into the doorframe of his en-suite, forcing her spine to painfully collide with it.

She flinched when she felt his breath against her cheek, seething down at her with intent malice. Danny tried to shy away further, wincing when a dry chuckle escaped his throat.

"You want to act scared now, huh?" Kylo spat. Uttering a feigned laugh.

Tears flowed freely from Danny's eyes, smattering her cheeks and catching down the slope of her nose. He craned his neck further down, smothering her neck but she snapped her head away from him. Hoping to put any distance she could between them.

"Look at me."

A biting pain shot to her jaw, Kylo used his fingers to pinch her chin and force her to meet his eyes. As soon as she did, she regretted it, there wasn't anger in his eyes; there was pain. Pure unfiltered and unadulterated pain. It was as clear as the freckles speckling his cheeks, as vivid as the crease in his brow.

When his hand shot out to squeeze her throat Danny let her nails bit into the skin of his wrist, hoping that the slight of pain would snap him away from his actions.

"Do it." She whispered. Kylo's grip didn't cease but it loosened.

Danny met his stare head on, piercing those honey-amber irises with her own silver-foil ocean hues, eyes he couldn't escape from. He dropped his hand and his gaze, holding up his palms in a silent surrender. Walking himself backwards and turning on his heel at the window, Danny could see the hard angle of his jaw tighten and his shoulders crowd as he focussed on the unforgiving rain still beating against the patio slabs in his backyard.

"Just go." It was Kylo's turn to whisper, one that was strained and almost inaudible. A faint breath of his usual stoic and cold voice.

Danny didn't need telling twice. With tears still streaming down her face she darted out of his room and down the stairs, not with tripping and sending herself crashing to the ground below. She half thought Kylo might here the fuss and check if she was okay, but she didn't so much as hear him stir from up above. She didn't care enough either. Dannycontinued through his house, bare feet slapping the tiles of his kitchen and crossing over the rug in his living room towards his front door.

Her shoes were still soaked to their soles when she slipped them on, the cold dampness travelled from her toes to the base of her neck. Kylo's shirt was still buttoned haphazardly and his borrowed boxers were slipping down over her hips, but Danny didn't stop. She carried on running way past his door, having to slow down the drive when her vision began to split and her head began to throb again. She blinked away the pain, she could have sobbed harder when she saw the metal gates to his property were open. Memories of them closing last night still played on her mind, she hoped that this wasn't some kind game Kylo was playing, that he'd trap her at the last minute again.

As Danny passed through the gates and scrambled onto the long stretch of road that lead down towards the crown of the hill, she failed to turn and catch sight of the man watching her. From one of his windows at the front of his home, Kylo stood there. Letting his eyes follow her as she carrier herself down the otherwise silent road. He hated the painful stir in his gut at the sight of her retreating, his eyes felt heavy but the organ in his chest felt heavier. His black calcified heart couldn't handle the thought of losing her, yet, he was the one that forced her to go. He swore to himself that he wouldn't hurt her, he'd even admitted that to her himself, but that's exactly what he had done. He'd pushed her away and hurt her both physically and mentally, he hated himself for what he was and what he had done. But he couldn't change that, not now, not ever.

Danny's lead heavy legs carried her further down the slope of the hill, burning with pain. She had no phone, no money, no clothes and no other way of getting across the city other then her own body.

When Kylo's home was no longer in sight she slowed down to a walk, chest heaving and burning from the cold-ice strain of the morning air hitting her lungs. She felt numb. She needed to get home and forget she ever came here, if Kylo caught wind of her telling anyone what she'd seen, she feared his threats weren't empty.

Danny didn't know how long she'd been walking after that, the sun had risen a little higher and the breeze shifted further west, but she didn't stop. Not even when she hit a main street and cars began to slow down next to her as she walked, honking their horns or rolling down their windows to shout misogynistic statements towards her. She'd almost forgot what she was wearing, it was welcome in the summer sun but it was far from ideal. By the third car she buttoned the shirt all the way up, folding her arms over her chest and hugging herself to block as much view of her body as she could. Kylo's boxers weren't as bad, due to them being much too big it just looked like she was wearing shorts. Danny didn't know how she would get home, there was no way she could walk through the inner streets of New York looking like this. If she wasn't picked up for public indecency then she sure as hell would get chewed out by a member of the public, she couldn't handle that kind of shameful embarrassment. The shouts from strangers didn't sting nearly as much as Kylo's actions, the fact he let her go out as she was, or the shouting and screaming. He had promised her something, then just as easily, he'd broken it.

Just as Danny rounded a corner that led further from the calm and peaceful tranquility of the outer city, she could see someone coming towards her in the distance. From the bright glare of the midday sun and the distance at which the person was, she couldn't make them out entirely. Only the standard shadow and shape of a person. Danny moved to walk closer to the opposite side of the pavement, moving out of the way incase she got in their way. She tried to keep her head down, hoping it was just a jogger and that they'd run straight past her. Only her attention was snatched away when they called her name, their voice stitched with panic and concern.

She snapped her eyes towards the unknown shadow, squinting harshly to try and focus more clearly. Then he called out to her again, coming closer and closer to the view of her tired eyes.

"Poe?"

Danny wasn't met with any verbal answer, the Guatemalan didn't slow down either. He sprinted right up to her, crashing chest to chest and wrapping her tightly in his arms. The force of it took Danny's breath away, at first she couldn't register what was happening, but soon enough she wrapped her arms over his shoulders and around his neck. Squeezing him tightly as she began to cry into the crook of his neck.

"What the fuck happened to you?" He whispered, pressing a chaste kiss into her hair.

Danny responded with her own question, not wanting to tell him the ultimate truth.

"How did you find me?" She sniffled.

Poe withdrew, taking her face in his hands and tilting it from side to side, as if looking for anything that caused her pain and discomfort.

"I got a super weird call about half an hour ago, I nearly didn't answer because it was a private number, thank fucking god I did Danny Jesus Christ." He pulled her to his chest again, sighing heavily when he felt her arms wrap around his torso.

Poe pulled away again. Shrugging off his tan leather jacket and slinging it over Danny's shoulders, he pulled it across her chest and zipped it up half way. Taking a step back to take in all the damage, her knees were slightly scraped and her face was the pure picture of sadness. It was her neck that caught all his attention, a slightly faded band of pinkish-purple, very close to the shape of a large hand.

"Danny. What happened?" Poe ushered her forward further down the road, watching over his shoulder out of paranoia.

"I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to Poe, it's complicated, please just take me home." She began crying again, pain and confusion eating her from the inside out.

"Hey hey shhhhh, it's okay. I've got you now. I've got you."

I've got you

...

The Night Before

Vicrul held his breath. Completely frozen and rooted to his spot, he knew Jake was still strewn across the floor at his feet; choking and sputtering on a mixture of his own blood and broken teeth. But Vic didn't care about that, he was focused on the open front door, watching the onslaught of rain that bled it's way into the front hallway. Kylo hadn't hesitated to go after Kitten, grabbing a chloroform soaked cloth from the kitchen top and barrelling after her. The two of them had intended to use it on Jake if things went south, turns out Jake really was a weak, scrawny piece of shit in the long run.

He didn't let the carbon dioxide leave his tainted lungs until Kylo came back into sight, cradling Kitten in his arms like she was a lifeless doll. Still and unmoving. Vic could see the soft rise and fall of her chest, even if it did stutter every now and then. She was soaked through to the bone, stray water droplets bleeding from her and Kylo's bodies respectively. Danny's mouth was slightly open, her blue lips dragging gentle intakes of air as she slept soundly.

The raven haired man didn't slow when he rounded past the kitchen, dirt stained shoes trudging loudly up his stairs and crossing over to his own keep.

Vic could hear him through the floorboards, Kylo's huge frame darting from one end of his room to the other hastily.

Vic's trained ears picked up on something else, craning his neck to see jake fruitlessly trying to claw himself towards the door. The German laughed to hisself, literally, watching as streaks of blood followed in his wake. Staining the floors and carpets a dark crimson red.

"I don't think so Arschloch." He grinned.

The German killer lunged, spurring forward and catching Jake by the back of his cheap shirt collar and yanking him backwards. Jake choked and begged, his words muffled by the blood and vomit crawling lengthways up his throat. Using his foot for leverage, he pulled Jake up and slammed him back down, his spine now digging hardly into the polished floors of Kylo's front room. Vic straddled Jake's chest, his knees trapping him there. Without even thinking, Vic's fist connected with Jake's jaw, only to recoil and come down again. Harder.

Vic must have been enjoying himself too much, for he didn't hear the large body that joined him from upstairs.

"I can't leave you for five minutes."

Kylo shook his head, wet hair scattering droplets over the floor he was crossing. He hadn't changed, suit shirt sticking to his wide chest like a second skin.

"I think you're forgetting who bought this piece of shit here in the first place, is she ok?" Vic stated solidly, cocking his head up at his bloodless brother.

Kylo cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, taking a step forward as he cracked his knuckles too.

"She's okay." He answered.

"Keep your eye on her, I didn't exactly got easy on the good stuff. It wasn't for her."

Vic scorned. He wasn't best thrilled that Kylo resorted to drugging Kitten before he'd even tried anything else, they both knew just how easy it was to overdose a person with it. Back in the "good ol' days" the two of them used to use a concoction of chloroform and ketamine to get the job done when they were on a time crunch, a time crunch back then meaning they had better things to do. Girls to fuck and alcohol to drown. They grew out of that habit pretty quickly, or rather Snoke beat it out of them. Neither of them spoke about those days anymore, dragging up the painful memories of the past was pointless. Weak even.

"I'll check on her in a bit, now what exactly do we do with him? I'm not in the mood." Kylo feigned his interest, but he meant his words. He really wasn't in the mood, his mind was caressed by the Kitten sleeping soundly above his head. He wanted to rid this night from existence, damn it to hell where he'd meet it again in the afterlife.

Vic moved to a stand, not missing when he lodged the heel of his polished brogue into Jake's remaining teeth. "You're not in the mood? You're not in the fucking mood?" Vic spat, baring his teeth now. "After all I've been through tonight, you want to tell me you're not in the mood?" He crowded Kylo's space, both men nose to nose with the tainted air thinking around them. Kylo didn't budge, never even blinked when the German squared his chest and leered in closely.

"Are you deaf?" Vicrul grew irritated, he was usually so calm and collected, nonchalant in fact, that when he did snap; it was like the thickest elastic band known to man. Twanging and ripping.

Kylo's eyes weren't in the room. They were totally else where, rattling like wasps in his skull as his thoughts swallowed him whole. Vic fists were balled at his sides, ready to strike; with his ears still razor focussed on the near dead man still a mere foot behind him.

Then three little words pierced the German's senses, falling from Kylo's mouth with such a weight that Vic felt in pull at his soul. His eyes clouded and his blood spiked with a familiar adrenaline that he knew all too well.

"Storage unit thirteen."

____________________________________

Just a little note for you guys :)

I'm so sorry this update has taken so long and that it's nowhere near as long as my chapters usually are, I just really wanted to get something out!

I'm super busy Rn and I also can't wait for you guys to see what else I've got in the works!

A little PSA for future chapters too, this chapter was nowhere near as gory as I originally wrote it, for the sheer fact that I think I need to wait till it's a more appropriate time and that it suits the aesthetic better. So for future chapters pleased be warned that it may get expressly graphic, I don't like writing subjects to do with r*pe or rough sex because it's not something I like to think about and it's very sensitive to me personally. I think that's the reason I chose to have things be graphic/18+ elsewhere.

So please consider this the official warning as I'm a dumbass and will 1000% forget to add a warning.

Love you guys!

N x


	13. 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙼𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙺𝙽𝙸𝙵𝙴 𝙵𝙴𝙴𝙻 𝙶𝙾𝙾𝙳

In Vicrul's opinion, one never really became fully accustomed to the smell of decaying flesh and congealed blood.

Storage unit thirteen was Kylo's own littleplayground, only when the need arose did he choose to use it. Vicrul; as sadistic as he was, didn't enjoy storage unit thirteen. It had a harrowing way of reminding him where he came from, back in his youth Germany was very different to how it was now. The blood stained walls and dim-flickering lights did nothing to settle the growing pit of fresh nausea that stirred in his gut, he hated that he hated it. He could gauge a man's eye sockets out with his bare fingers and yet he couldn't stop his incessant fidgeting when trapped behind the steel doors of the storage unit he loathed so much. It pissed him of especially when he saw Kylo was unfazed, his raven haired counterpart never let his eyes focus on the blood spattered ceilings or let his big nose take in the smell of rotting flesh hidden beneath membrane covered tarpaulin. Kylo loved this side of the job, as dark and despicable as it was, he didn't just live for the chase; he lived for devouring. The bastards that were unlucky enough to make their way to storage unit thirteen never lasted long, wether it was their bodies or their minds that broke first, Kylo didn't care.

As long as they broke. And begged while they did.

Jake Anderson was no different. Kylo didn't give him much thought when he tossed him like a rag doll through the sliding garage-like-door, Jake hit the concrete floor with a bone-crunching crack, Vicrul wouldn't have been surprised if multiple things were broken.

"Smells like shit in here." Kylo growled lowly as he strode through the unit, shrugging off his suit jacket and throwing it behind him carelessly.

"No it's smells like dead people." Vicrul mused, more so using humour to try and hide the anxieties that were balling up in his throat like a cancerous tumour.

Kylo glared at him from over his shoulder, long legs still carrying him over to where Jake was trying and failing to cower away. His voice was rough and strangled when he was finally able to speak. "Please" he begged. "I'll give you anything." Tears welled in his muddy brown eyes as he pleaded and begged for mercy, but it was far too late for that.

The raven haired assassin didn't spare him any time to react, his foot carved through Jake's jaw like a hot knife to butter. If Jake had anymore teeth to spit up, in that moment he did so, he looked like hell on Earth. And not in the good way. His right eye socket was shattered and swollen red beyond belief, his actual iris was punctured and caused the white of his eye to bleed crimson. Whatever was left of his teeth were nothing but a broken, splintered mess of off-yellow mouth bones. His bottom lip was hanging by a thread, literally, barely held together by the weak muscle fibres that were torn and fraying. Jake's pale skin was now stained blue-purple, every inch of him was near enough battered and bruised. His ribs were broken and his left wrist definitely fractured, his brow bone was swollen and his cranium beneath the skin was no doubt cracked or on it's way to being so.

Kylo had used him as a literal punching bag. The more Jake begged and pleaded for mercy, the harder Kylo's hits became. He didn't pull a single one. Each one harder then the last by a significant amount, Kylo didn't let on but his own knuckles were definitely fractured from the force of his hits. Yet the pain was nothing compared to the aching soreness in his chest, the empty cavity where his heart should be beating was simply a void. Pure blackness.

Jake was in a horrendous condition even before being dragged by his scalp to storage unit thirteen, his airway was more or less crushed and his body was starting to shut down. Kylo wouldn't have that.

"You're a piece of shit." Kylo spat at Jake's face, a smirk splitting his lips when he saw the man struggle to lift his twisted-broken hand to wipe the phlegm away.

"W-what does that make you?" Jake choked on a mixture of fear and cadaverine gas, perhaps the man had finally grown a backbone. Be it too late.

Kylo lunged forward, catching Jake by the throat in a crushing grip that sent Jake's eyes wide and his own knuckles white. "I'm the fucking executioner." Kylo hissed lowly, throwing Jake down from his knees.

Before the rat could cower away Kylo pressed the heel of his shoe into Jake's better wrist, rendering him unable to move as he wheezed in pain.

"That's a bit deep." Vic prodded, earning him a warning glare from Kylo.

Vicrul remained silent throughout the entire ordeal, staying still like the fucking Blair witch in the far corner while willing himself not to vomit from the terrible smell that bathed the air. In any other case, Vic might have stepped in, insisted that skipping around the task was trivial and tormenting. He'd ease Kylo into thinking that finishing the job quickly was an idea of his own creation, they'd both wash their hands of the job and be on their way. But not today, Jake didn't deserve that kind of mercy. He was a disgusting pig, what he had done to Kitten was enough for Vicrul and Kylo. The other girl had simply been the straw to break the camel's back, they couldn't waste anymore time. And they didn't. Wouldn't.

The German killer was half tempted to throw in a punch or two of his own, but he knew this was Kylo's punishment to serve. He'd almost forgot about his gunshot wound, regular painkillers had taken the edge off things, but it was still a festering wound that stung each time he flexed his scapula and spine. It wouldn't be a quick fix, he knew that, Kylo knew that. Vicrul also knew that his wound was the only thing keeping himself and Kylo from coming to blows with each other, Kylo still hadn't let the kiss go, fuck; neither had Armitage. Vicrul knew he'd fucked up, but he was already growing tired of Kylo's little silent treatment games. Only when he had to talk would he, any other time he simply pretended Vic wasn't their, like right now; as he smashed Jake's face even further into his skull.

Vic didn't wince or pull a sour face when he heard the bones in Jake's face literally shatter, he heard the crunch and snap of weak cartilage under Kylo's fists. Kylo was very resourceful, creative too, that was just common knowledge. Wether it be a broken chair leg or a rusted drag of steel chain, Kylo could put it to good use. That wasn't for his charges sake, it was more so the fact that he got a kick out of it himself. He didn't use his tools to speed up the process or blunt the pain, Kylo enjoyed different methods of torture. He hated how high he got from it, but it was far too intoxicating to stop now. Jake spat out a few words along with more blood, but neither of them cared to listen to him, his voice was merely white noise now.

Kylo paused for a minute. Dragging in deep breaths as his obsidian sharp eyes darted across the room, his eyes narrowed pointedly. "How long has it been?" He asked, craning his neck over his shoulder to look Vicrul directly in the eye. "What are you on about?" The German tensed, the wild look in Kylo's eyes was haunting, swirling black acid with a dormant fire now lit. He didn't scare easily, but Kylo was something entirely different, Vic had seen the kind of damage he could pull. Even empty handed.

"Since we had the last one here." Kylo declared, growing more and more agitated by the passing second. As if on queue, both Vic and Kylo's eyes traced the same line, one that led directly to the heaped mass in the corner. A stained tarpaulin covering something foul smelling and oozing. The German's throat dried, his eyes casting immediately back over to Kylo, who's stare hadn't moved, the only change in movement had been the haunting smirk that pulled up from his lips to the tips of his ears like a deranged Cheshire Cat. Jake continued to sputter and spit in the background, yet the unit was silent, Vic somehow knew what Kylo was thinking. But he didn't want to let himself believe it.

Kylo moved closer to Jake. Feigning walking past him as he snatched him by the back of the collar and dragged him along. Jake was on his back, his shirt riding up so his spine grated harshly against the concrete floor, he hissed and attempted to claw his way free from Kylo's python grip. His broken and dislocated fingers were useless, he tried to dig the heels of his shoes into the floor to slow Kylo down but it was futile. The killer had an idea, a despicably disgusting and diabolical idea, so befitting for the little despoiler he had in his grasp.

Kylo threw Jake again, hard enough that his skull cracked against the tall concrete wall he had tried to prop him up against. Immediately Jake's head fell, his wheezing chest evened and his broken fingers ceased twitching and spasming.

"For fucks sake." Vic mumbled, his arms were snatched over his broad chest as he looked the other way. His eyes were glued to the steel door he was looming near, ready to duck and dive if he had to.

"Would you shut the fuck up?" Kylo hissed. Digging in his pocket for something.

"You bring him here just to crack his skull on a fucking wall? Forgive me for thinking you had the patience for anything else." Vic huffed, still not looking Kylo's way.

"Oi."

Vic's head twisted. His eyes only just reacting in time to catch the object Kylo had tossed his way, the item clinked against Vic's rings as he caught it. He quickly twisted it in his hand, a small vile like cylinder that had a needle sticking prominently out of the end, with a cap of course. Vic brushed his left thumb over the barrel of the cylinder, watching the liquid sway and bubble as he moved it.

"Adrenaline" Vic stated pointedly, eyeing Kylo as he watched him use his index finger to flick an identical needle that was dwarfed in his own hand. "I was going to use it either way, good job I bought it with me." Kylo knelt forward, not caring when his knee leant all of his colossal weight onto Jake's right shin. "Where did you get this?" Vic questioned, a genuine tone spilling from his lips. Kylo eyed him from his peripherals, "Hux's desk." The German paused for a moment, trying to connect the dots between the drugs and his on-off lover. Kylo could practically hear the cogs turning in his friends head, as much as he didn't want to answer the questions he was beginning to form, he did anyway. "He's paranoid. Keeps it in his office as an emergency stash. Always has." Kylo mumbled as he yanked at Jake's arm, the man lying like dead weight against the wall was completely and utterly unresponsive, no matter how much Kylo leant his weight into him or how hard he pressed the needle through his skin and into his vein. Jake didn't stir.

"I'm going to enjoy this." Kylo snapped the needle at the tip, watching as Jake's skin began to swallow the pointed metal. Kylo had emptied the entire vile, it would be a race to see what would kill Jake first, the drugs; or Kylo.

As if on queue, Jake's eyelids began to flutter, heavy and uneasy as he stirred back into the waking world.

"Wakey wakey princess." The raven haired hitman grinned wildly, slapping Jake's cheek harshly as he arose from his knees.

Jake coughed and his chest heaved dryly, "What the fuck-" he continued to choke on his own words as Kylo watched. Then it hit him, he had to finish this quicker then he would've liked, because he had every chance that Jake would die on him.

Kylo's eye twitched. The same horrific idea snapping back to his mind like the pulled twang of an elastic band. His body moved without him having to command it, long lumber legs striding over to the far end of the unit, heading straight towards the piled mass of blood stained cloth. Kylo heard Vicrul stir from across the room, but he wasn't conscious enough to catch onto it entirely, he might've spoken; but Kylo was too razor focused and ignored it. The world around him was just white noise, his eyes beginning to shroud and blacken at the corners, creating a tunnel vision that always lead him to the same place. Death.

Much to Vicrul's dismay, he watched as Kylo ripped back the sheet, still unfazed when a new stench filled wake of rotten and festering flesh stifled the air and suffocated all three men in the room. Vic gagged, using his shirt sleeve to cover his mouth and nose. Kylo blinked. His smirk never falling. Vicrul wanted to leave, he knew he could, but at the same time; it would just prove Snoke's point. The old bastard had always taunted and belittled him for his weak stomach, throughout their teenage years Snoke was always pitting Kylo and Vic against one another. Trying and failing to weave a rift between them that he hoped would eventually lead to bloodshed, both seemed to prove him wrong. The ancient geezer was less then pleased, so instead he put Kylo on a pedestal, forced the other boys in the 'guild' to literally look up to the slender raven haired teen like he was some sort of mythological god. Kylo hated it.

The German killer felt his bones shiver when the sound of Kylo's pocket knife sheathing rang through the empty storage unit. He could still hear Jake gurgling and spluttering, his eyes were wild and his legs twitched with the forced chemical adrenaline beating through his veins erratically.

"Leave."

Vicrul angled his shoulders towards Kylo, waiting for him to repeat his words. "What?" He asked, a deep furrow knitted into his brow.

"Get out." Kylo's tone was cold and low. Teetering on threatening.

"I'm not going anywhere." Vicrul stated sharply, metaphorically digging his feet into the concrete floor beneath him.

"Make me tell you again and this bastard won't be the only one bleeding." He seethed, his thick banded rings clanking against the metal hilt of his pocket blade as he twirled it in his right hand.

Vicrul's stare was blank. His eyes searching Kylo's face for any hint of humour or jesting, he didn't find any. His mouth was gaped open as he struggled to fight the words bubbling in his throat, he knew he had done wrong in his life. His entire existence had been a mistake, he'd been told enough times to believe it by now. But he felt for Kylo, he knew his heart had never been in it, he was never bred for this life. None of them were. As Vicrul watched Kylo reel back his knife it felt like time itself stood still, Jake's strained gurgles were muted and the only sound present was his own heartbeat drumming in his ears. The knife tore through the decaying flesh easily, the oozing stretches of skin barely even looking intelligible anymore. The decayed processing bodies were piled high, limbs missing and eyes gauged from the empty skulls Kylo had drained of blood too long ago to remember clearly. It had been so long since he'd stepped foot inside the storage unit that he didn't even remember the faces of the men he had murdered that were staring soullessly right back at him.

"I'm going to check on Kitten." Vicrul spat. Praying to the god he didn't believe in that Kylo would cease his actions, the smell was putrid and festering by now. How Kylo's eyes weren't streaming and watering with tears, Vic didn't know, the secondhand smell alone could bring a Goliath to it's knees.

The sound of tearing flesh stopped, a faint dripping spattering the floor at Kylo's feet as he froze in place upon hearing Vic's words. "Make sure she's okay." He whispered. Kylo didn't know why he had let that out, he didn't need to admit he cared for her anymore. After tonight she would wash her hands of him and wish to forget she'd ever even met him, she was the one thing he wanted to hold onto and yet he had let her go. The metaphorical tie he had tethered to her to keep her afloat was severed, torn and fraying from the blunt of his own blade.

Vicrul didn't respond verbally, not completely out of sourness towards his friend but more to the fact he was as afraid he'd empty the contents of his stomach onto the floor if he opened his mouth. He nodded considerately, ripping open the heavy steel door before crossing through it and letting it slam behind him. Heavy steel grating on the rusted metal door frame it settled against, Jake had jumped at the noise, no doubt his senses heightened from the adrenaline.

"You know..." Kylo began. "Since that day in your office, when I found you trying to fuck my sweet little Kitten, I've been watching you. Every time you left your office, saw every whore you took back to your penthouse, witnessed every shitty cheap cigarette you smoked from your balcony and tapped into every transaction as you robbed your daddy right from under his nose." Kylo laughed audibly, the sound echoing deeply in his chest. Jake was wide eyed and full of fear, it felt like his veins were going to explode and his head was going to split. His senses were running into overdrive, overstimulating him to the point of discomfort. His bleached pale skin felt like it was crawling with fire ants, yet he was too weak to bat them away, his mind and body uncooperative. "It's funny really. More so for me then you, clearly, you've done nothing worthy in your life. That little scholarship you had at NCU was pretty worthless, huh? You didn't even last a full term. How laughable. You're a spoilt pig with nothing going for him, not even the dick between your legs is anything to write home about. Yet you seem so convinced that you're something you're not, you truly believe those women wanted you. A borderline mythomaniac would be my diagnostic." Kylo hummed, watching his fingers coat and glisten with the viscous fluid falling over his knife and down his wrist from the body he was practically skinning, grinning at how effortless the task was.

"First you try to take my Kitten. Then you knowingly hurt her friend, fully aware she didn't want you."

Jake heard the sound of meat tearing, practically caught onto every snapping ligament and tendon as it was ripped away from bone. The muddy haired man may have been distorted in his views and plagued with his own self-righteousness, but he wasn't stupid, he had accepted his death hours ago. Yet his tongue never ceased, the switch from his brain to his mouth had been damaged long before Kylo and Vic had come along. The man gurgled something incoherent, a strangled laugh following closely after it. Kylo was in front of him now, standing tall and as usually demon like. Kylo resembled death itself, if depictable in an art form it would be Kylo's portrait in it's place. His sculpted features and detailed dark eyes struck fear without him even having to speak, it only added to the effect when accompanied by his gravely dark octave that growled from his larynx. With a deafening crunch Kylo pressed his weight onto Jake's ankle, observing how the man reeled back and pressed further into the wall behind him. "Care to repeat that?" Kylo hissed, grunting when he felt Jake's ankle give way and snap beneath his weight. The man screeched in pain as he gargled on the congealing blood spilling over his tongue and lips, his screams of pain merged into manic laughter. His pain dwindling as he hiccuped and choked on his howls.

"She was fucking begging for it." Jake spluttered, laughing as he struggled to get his words to sound like real words. His sentence was strained and un-hurried, but every passing second was another second closer Kylo was to living upto his fait.

The raven haired killer didn't know wether Jake was referring to Kitten or her friend, either way, it spiked Kylo's blood something vicious.

With little to no effort Kylo crushed Jake's jaw between his fingers, using his other hand to shove a chunk of weeping and rotten flesh past his broken teeth and over his swollen tongue, lodging it right to the back of his throat. Jake tried to fight it, gagging and retching as the festering meat clogged his mouth and pallet. Kylo continued to stuff more human flesh down Jake's throat, the killer's lip was bitten back into a sinister snarl, his lips peeled back over his teeth. Jake's broken limbs flailed and whipped at all angles, hoping to deter or fend off his attacker. But nothing was about to stop Kylo. Nothing.

"Shut your fucking mouth." Kylo bellowed. Smoothing his hand over Jake's lips so that he couldn't regurgitate the human material slipping around in his mouth. Jake cried out, muffled whimpers and loud choking falling from behind Kylo's hand. "If you know what's good for you.." Kylo began, removing his hand and shoving his index and middle finger past Jake's splintered teeth and busted lips, forcing him to gag. "You'll fucking swallow." He seethed, watching with acidic sharp eyes as more tears fell over Jake's pale cheeks and down his jaw. Kylo physically pushed the human flesh down Jake's gullet, the slick meat lodging and refusing to travel down as Jake tried to fight it. Kylo grabbed his throat with his spare hand, clamping his long fingers around Jake's neck so he was forced to swallow to relieve the pressure.It was a painstaking few seconds that passed by, the grainy noises of Jake's struggle as he swallowed audibly. As soon as the rotten human flesh travelled down his oesophagus, it came back up, but Kylo wouldn't have that. He clasped his hand back over Jake's mouth, cutting of his airway with his other free hand. Jake swallowed again, groaning in pain as more tears fell from his cloudy brown eyes. "P-please." Jake begged, his chest hiccuping as Kylo withdrew his hand.

With a flash of silver, it was over, Kylo lodged his knife into the side of Jake's throat, burying it to the hilt as he twisted it jerkily. Kylo kept digging it further and further, to the point where his large fisted hand began to bury itself into the flesh of Jake's neck too. After one last grunt, Kylo pulled out his knife, watching as blood poured like a crimson waterfall from the gaping hole in Jake's neck.

The rapist's body collapsed forward at Kylo's feet, blood spilled onto the concrete floor as the gargling sound of Jake's drowning throat finally ceased.

Little did Kylo know that when he fell to his knees with a hard lump of emotion lodged in his throat, threatening to let itself free, his brother was plagued the same. Kneeling beside Kylo's bed with Kitten's clammy-cold fingers resting in his palm as he cried into the sheets beneath her unconscious form, wishing he could have made better decisions to keep her safe. Vicrul was a broken man. The lifeless organ sitting dormant beneath his ribcage ached, he wanted more for Kylo, he wanted more for Kitten. And he was going to give it to them.

No matter the sacrifice he had to make.

Kylo returned to his home some hours after Jake's death, his clothes soaked in blood and tears as he crossed through the threshold of his cold homestead.

He first noticed that the mess of blood and broken furniture had been dealt with, his living room and kitchen now looked back in pristine condition. Back to how they had been before Vicrul burst through his front door dragging an already beaten black and blue Jake behind him. It didn't take Kylo long to find Vicrul, with his back pressed to the kitchen cabinets as he sat with his legs sprawled across the floor, a big bottle of whiskey in his dominant hand. He looked like shit, but Kylo imagined he didn't look much better off, perhaps he looked worse.

"You should get home." He pressed, noting how Vicrul distantly blinked as he stared at the opaque wallpaper in-front of him. The German gave him a sidewards glance but his face didn't change, the only other movement he made was his wrist and arm flexing to press the neck of the whiskey bottle to his lips as he took a messy swig of the amber coloured liquid. "I'll call Hux." Kylo hushed, more so to himself as he pulled his phone from his pocket and began to dial Hux's home phone. "He won't answer." Vicrul whispered, scoffing loudly as he took another long sip from the glass bottle. Kylo dialled anyway, assuming that Vicrul meant he hadn't answered when the German had already tried to call him. Armitage was very much like Kylo in the sense that neither of them had let the kiss go yet, as harmless and Vic-like as it was, there was still something distantly off about it. Why had he done it?

Ever since Hux found out that day in his office he hadn't spoken a word to Vic, keeping him at arms length was crushing them both.

But it had to be done.

"This better be good Ren." Hux spat down the receiver, his usually mechanical and potent voice was hoarse and full of groggy sleep as his throat warmed itself to alertness. "Your boyfriends at my place. Drunk might I add." Kylo shushed Vic as he and Hux spoke at the same time, a "fuck you" and a "I don't care" sounding in his ears at the same time.

"I'd leave him where he is but I have shit to do, I wouldn't tell you to come and get him if I didn't need you to." Kylo was being somewhat truthful for once, he usually would have just left Vic to crash on the couch or eat his way through Kylo's pantry till he passed out, but tonight was different. The raven haired assassin needed to think, in silence, he had so much turmoil simmering over in his chest. Half of him wanted to take a drive, a long drive, one that led him to nowhere so he could finally breathe and think about what he needed to do to move forwards.

Yet he couldn't bring himself to do that, he felt a duty of care to the sleeping beauty slumbering soundly just upstairs in his bed, the guilt of drugging Danny was still biting away at his consciousness. Fresh on his mind as his brain relayed every image and memory he had of her on repeat. All the good and the bad. Kitten shouting at the top of her lungs, sneering in his face, moaning breathily in his ear as he buried himself deep within her core, the way she smiled so fondly up at him, watching the fear in her eyes. Seeing her cry. All the good and the bad intertwining and stirring in his gut, sending his mind to spill over the edges. He was scared to face her, although he knew she would still be knocked out to the high heavens. The thought of meeting those glowing sea foam eyes of hers in the morning made his mind swim and his chest tighten, he didn't know what to say.

He wasn't sure what time it was when Hux's car rolled through his gates and screeched up his driveway, nor did he care to interact when the ginger let himself in with pink dusted cheeks from the frigidearly morning air. Kylo dismissed himself when he heard Hux muttering and cursing under his breath, Vic didn't make it easy as Armitage tried and failed to hoist him up and support him towards the front door. Vic gave Kylo a dismissive wave but it went ignored, upon hearing the clicking of his front door lock into place Kylo's shoulders relaxed. He'd been standing at the foot of his stairs, just waiting, goading his next step ever so carefully.

Kylo wanted nothing more then to cradle Kitten to his chest as he slipped into bed beside her, let her warmth envelope him as he pressed his nose into her hair to intake the sweet smell of her. Just her. He couldn't pinpoint her perfume or shampoo anymore like he used to, it twined itself into one and mingled to create a whole new sensation that buzzed at his senses. He wanted to feel her fingers grab for him in her sleep like they always did, or hear how she mumbled and stirred in her sleep when he moved even just an inch. Kylo had to keep reminding himself that he was letting himself slip, but he wanted her. All of her. When she was moulded to his chest while they slept he was swaddled with a familiar warmth that settled him into a calm slumber. The man was actually able to sleep at night when he held Kitten's hand, their fingers intertwined as they rested against her bare tummy while Kylo held her naked back firm to his bare chest. Creating a cage as to protect her, when in reality, he was the the only danger she faced anymore.

It felt like he had weights tied to his ankles when he finally ascended the stairs, each step pulling him further and further down to the depths of hell where he belonged, to he burned and singed by the hell-fires below. His tired body carried itself down the hallway, he could smell her from where he was, the sweet swell of cherry and jasmine that stifled the air and settled under his nose. Even when she was gone he could smell it, like her scent would weave itself right into the fabric of the clothes he wore. He carried it to bed with him each night she was gone, even when he washed his sheets he could still smell her perfume on his pillow cases. He wanted that to be his normal, no matter how much he cleaned or washed things, he wanted parts of Kitten to always be there. Despite not needing to be careful, Kylo couldn't help but tiptoe into the room, his chest heaving when he watched her sleep. It wasn't how she usually slept, she was flat on her back with one arm resting over her stomach. If he didn't know any better, she would have been the prettiest rendition of death itself. Like a beautiful flower that adorned a poisoned thorn. Usually she would sleep on her stomach, having tried to move away from Kylo as they slept because she was 'too warm', it might have been bratty in someone else's eyes; but being crushed to the chest of a 6'4 muscled heathen while swaddled in lavish covers would have anyone sweating their gonads off. Kylo would have the same routine, rising with the sun and simply watching as Kitten continued to dream. She'd wrinkle her nose or curl her fingers in her slumber, more often then not seeking out Kylo's warmth she'd curled away from in the night. He'd give it to her. Lacing their fingers together or tracing patterns over her back when she slept, in the past Kylo would be up and out of bed. Finding something to occupy himself with, yet with Kitten, he stayed. Just watching her at peace bought him his own little slither of tranquility.

Kylo headed straight for the bathroom. Ridding himself of his blood stained clothes and washing his sore knuckles under the cold water of his sink, avoiding the woman that was sleeping soundly in the next room. He peeled off his boxers and treaded over to his walk in, snatching a pair of sweats and pulling them loosely over his trim hips. Kylo felt horrid for it, but he couldn't keep his eyes on her. He could barely hear her breathe, the room was entirely silent bar the rattling of his own erratic heartbeat in his ears. He felt sick. This was worse then Russia. He was feeling things, he held guilt in his heart. A sensation that had died away many years ago, he didn't believe he could feel anything anymore. But little Kitten had changed all of that.

The early morning daybreak bled into the mid-morning, the violet-peach sky smeared a blood orange glow as the sun rose high over the brow of the hill Kylo lived upon. Kylo didn't rise with the glowing sun as usual, he accompanied the moon as it descended and watched the sun rise from it's depths in the purple darkness. His eyes stung and his throat was dry, the whiskey he'd slunked down to the kitchen for in the early hours hadn't helped. If anything, he felt worse for the alcohol, he thought it would help ease himself into conversation when Danny woke up. But it only seemed to grate his nerves to even thinner sharper points, each second that ticked by was like a ticking time bomb waiting to strike Kylo's blood. He lit what felt like his hundredth cigarette, when he heard the telltale sound of creasing sheets and breathy whimpers as Kitten rose to the waking world. Even though he had spent hours preparing what he was going to tell her..

He wasn't ready for this.

\- 𝚃𝚆𝙾 𝚆𝙴𝙴𝙺𝚂 𝙻𝙰𝚃𝙴𝚁 -

Danny's life seemed to have taken another turn. This one being for the better, she put that solemn night behind her the very next afternoon. After rowing with Kylo and stumbling into Poe's arms she had made herself a promise, she was done with Ren. She couldn't count how many emails, texts and calls she'd been left despite being forced to buy a new phone. Danny made the quick assumption that it was Vicrul, she imagined Kylo wanted nothing to do with her either so Vic would be left to pick up the microscopic pieces that were left from whatever they thought they had with one another.

She wouldn't lie. There had been long sleepless nights alone where she cried, painful sobs that hurt her chest and left her with a splitting headache thereafter. She told herself it was the guilt, though the man had still been alive, she knew Jake was dead by now. Kylo had admitted that himself, if he wasn't dead, he would kill him. Part of Danny felt guilty and wretched for what she knew, it felt wrong to simply do nothing. But at the same time, Kylo had told her he couldn't protect her if she did squeal. That told her that he wouldn't be the one doing the reaping if she was to take her knowledge to the police, some other murderous soul would steal her away from the land of the living. She knew it wasn't an empty threat either, between Kylo, Vic and Ushar; she had enough proof.

When her mind was settled on Kylo or Vic, Danny was actually able to progress with her life. She threw herself into her work and busied herself with anything and everything that would fill the newly emptied void in her life. The day Poe had taken her home was a day she wanted to forget, she had cried till her lungs ached, using the sleeve of a borrowed jacket to soak up her tears as she cried her heart out. Poe Dameron tried his hardest to pick through the stone exterior of Danny's feelings, but she kept it all in, hoping he couldn't see right through her. She let him latch onto certain parts, like how dumb boys were and how she now had to buy a new phone. She failed to mention how she'd basically witnessed an attempted murder. He didn't need to know that part.

Poe had wiped her tears and taken her home, wrapped her up warm and cooked her a heart meal with her forgotten groceries that were barely fresh anymore but still plenty good enough to eat. He stayed the entire evening, running his fingers through her ashen blonde hair as she slept like an exhausted Kitten in his lap.

It took a few days but Danny pushed through the pain, she painted her emotions and feelings down onto canvas, spending hours upon hours tucked away in her studio with her favourite tunes playing and her favourite paintbrush snug between her fingertips. Danny didn't mind when she spilt white acrylic paint down the front of her favourite jeans, nor did she give a shit when a strong breeze caught through her silk curtains and splayed some of her drying art pieces to disperse and scatter across the polished hardwood floor. That was when she knew she'd let go, not of Kylo, not of Vicrul. But of herself, she'd let go of the shy and weak individual that worried and wittled about anything and everything. She wanted to become more independent, she wanted to be stronger; and she would be.

She vowed it.

Over the course of the last two weeks Danny tried day and night to get in touch with Paige, she was met with automated caller tones and texts left on delivered. She'd known Paige long enough to know something wasn't sitting right, the girl never let her phone out of her sight, and if by some miracle she had lost it she was the type to let people know so.

Danny asked Poe to collar her at work but it turned out she stopped turning up, no calling in sick or annual leave. She had simply fallen off the face of the earth, Danny had thought she'd done something wrong or said something to upset her friend. But as time rolled on Danny realised something was out of place, her stomach only dropped further into her stomach when she heard Poe confirm her suspicions.

Danny's feet hurt from how hard she booted it down the concrete streets of New York, tears stung her eyes and her chest heaved with painful convulsions.

Poe followed closely behind her but his voice fell on deaf ears, Danny headed straight for Paige's apartment, tripping up the twisted metal stairs as her sobs broke in her throat. The spare key Paige kept under the doormat was still there, her crummy apartment door creaking as Danny pushed through it, she scurried from counter to table; from her kitchen to her bedroom. Nothing.

Poe's voice rambled in the background as Danny thumbed through her best friend's drawers, looking for a certain strip of paper that she knew existed.

"Will you slow down a second sugar? You need to take a minute." Poe cooed, reaching out to comfort his friend only to be batted away instantly.

"I need to find my friend!" She gasped, her throat hiccuping as she continued to rattle through the papers that became smattered with tears.

Danny found the number she wanted, fishing out her phone with shaky hands and haphazardly dialling the digits. The line rang, and rang and rang. When finally she heard a voice on the end, Danny didn't let them speak before she jumped to it herself.

"Where's Paige?" She squeaked.

The voice hummed, as if not catching or understanding Danny's words, when finally they responded. "Daniele? Is that you pumpkin? You sound so frazzled dear, Paige is asleep upstairs. Is everything okay?" Just hearing that her friend was okay had Danny's blood cooling down, the thought of what could have been had her gut twisted painfully. "I'm so sorry to call out of the blue like this Donna, I didn't mean to startle you. I've left Paige quite a few messages and haven't heard anything from her, I just wanted to know she was safe."

It felt like Danny let out a physical exhale upon hearing that Paige was indeed a live, wether she was well or not, that was still unclear. The line silenced for a few seconds, nothing but the sound of Poe's and Danny's struggling breaths swirling around Paige's apartment.

"I think you need to sit down Danny." The tone in Paige's mother's voice shifted, sadness and pain twining the very fibres of her silky smooth voice.

____________________________________

I promise things will get better very soon!

Make up sex is on it's way just be patient, it will be worth it ;)

N x


	14. 𝙸 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙺 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙺 𝚃𝙾𝙾 𝙼𝚄𝙲𝙷 𝙾𝙵 𝙼𝙴

Paige's childhood home should have felt warm and inviting, although the seasons were changing the sun still beamed through the textured glass of the living room window and painted a colourful hue of rainbow against the tan carpet as the light bent through the blown sand window. How ironic for the sun to be so smugly contented as it rolled over the peachy clouds considering the dark storm that had followed Danny overhead from Poe's borrowed car in the driveway to the lumpy yet comfortable sofa she was perched on the very edge of. Danny had been on edge for the last forty-eight hours, since calling Paige's mother she had insisted they talk in person. She didn't feel right having the news broken to her down the crackly receiver of a phone, it felt impersonal. False even. The anxiety and anticipation had eaten away at her spine right from the moment she put the phone down, she felt awful not being there for her friend. Yet Danny didn't feel like she was ready to hear what had happened, she already had her number of guesses lined up and ready in her head. Danny would have packed a bag there and then if she could have, but the one time she was meeting with an avid art collector happened to fall right into line with her friends troubles. She had half the mind to cancel but Paige's mother insisted she needn't worry, she told Danny that Paige was doing well but needed her friend and that another day or two wouldn't be any more detrimental to her then her ordeal already had been. A few more hours wouldn't hurt were her exact words actually.

Danny could tell she didn't give off the best impression to the curator, Kade Hackthorn was a man of precise taste. The meek artist couldn't help but compare him to Kylo, she hated that her mind wondered in that direction when a deep voice called through the wooden doors of his lavish office to let her know he was ready for her. Hackthorn was tall but extremely slim, his dark hazelnut locks were glossy and healthy, Danny imagined his hair products cost more then her monthly wage alone, he had bright cerulean eyes that would almost shift white in the light because they were so pale. His features made him look younger then he was, by a landslide, his dress sense aided him in that area also. He had an elongated neck that he shortened with a woolly black turtle neck and paired it with deep grey chino trousers and navy boat shoes, he looked sophisticated yet relaxed. His brows were darker then his hair and his face was slightly pinched, like someone had squirted lemon on his tongue.

He was pleasant enough. But Danny knew she hadn't impressed him enough, she could feel it through the shiver in her knees when he stood. Her pitch had left her tongue swollen and her eyes bleary, between Kylo, Paige and Jake; her mind was frazzled. She'd gotten less and less sleep and her artwork had reflected this. Her one chance to change herself had come and gone, she'd fucked it up. Like everything else in her life. Kade rounded his stark ebony desk, his shoes muffled by the beating of Danny's heart in her ears. She didn't feel it when his finger tapped the top of her hand, she jumped, her cheeks bleeding pink when he raised a brow at her strange behaviour. Sheepishly she handed over her sketchbook, having kept it clutched to her chest throughout their meeting in hopes that she could deter him from wanting to look. His email had specified that she must bring it along, yet she couldn't help but choke back her worries when she passed him the thick bind of glue and string that held together some of her favourite and most treasured pieces. Danny held her breath when the tall stature of Kade Hackthorn perched himself on the edge of his desk, balancing her wide sketchbook across the expanse of his palm while the other hand thumbed through each stretch of thick paper he had available to him.

Hackthorn didn't skip a single piece.

He passed the book back ever so gently, he was a complete gentleman about the whole ordeal. His eyes never wondered and he never spoke down his nose at Danny, their meeting had simply happened by chance. One little feature on a Twitter page had sparked a series of commissions that flooded through to Danny's emails, then one notification stood out in particular. She recognised the name instantly, of course Hackthorn himself hadn't emailed her. That would be ridiculous, but his personal assistant had done, welcoming Danny to come and meet with Hackthorn himself at his office to discuss one of her pieces being featured at the next month's art showing in Hackthorn's accredited gallery.

This was a big deal for Danny. And all the while Kade had spoken she couldn't focus on a single word he said, his drawling voice began to shift into one that she dreamt of when the moon rose to shimmer over the city skyline. The voice that had tears slipping down her pillow at night with just the memory of it whispering in her ear, even the sound of his heavy yet even breathing snatched her away from her thoughts. Embarrassingly, on more then one occasion the art connoisseur had to clear his throat to catch Danny's attention back from her fizzy mind. If that hadn't blown her chances, her lacklustre art would have sealed her fait entirely.

The words 'We'll be in touch' hadn't gifted Danny any feeling of reassurance either. With her overnight bag packed and shoved into the backseat of Poe's car she headed to Paige's childhood home straight from her meeting with Hackthorn, she tried not to let the tears spill too far as the car ate up the miles of block grey open road ahead of her, but some still fell. Between her failing career and her troubled friend, she had a full plate, but she still had other matters on her mind to add to the unbearable weight pressing down on her fragile shoulders. But they could wait, perhaps she'd forget about them entirely over time. It seemed they had let her go with little to no thought, she didn't want to think of him when he had so blatantly been the soul reason of her departure. Danny had wanted to gift Kylo the benefit of the doubt, but he had made it increasingly difficult for her to do so. Despite the sights she had seen she still wanted to at least hear his side, but he told her to simply keep quiet. Because he couldn't guarantee her safety if she didn't.

Paige didn't live too far from the inner workings of the city, she grew up just on the outskirts in a quieter town with a small population. Mostly older folk and younger families, Paige's mother was a retired school nurse now and her father was a veteran. They knew of her university qualifications but they had no idea of her working life, Paige intended to keep it that way too. The drive was pretty eventless for Danny, pulling into the driveway felt like a foreign sensation. It had been so long since she'd been anywhere but the busy bustling streets of the city, her eyes were wide and pleading when she passed through the quiet neighbourhoods and sweet tree lined streets. It reminded her of her own childhood home, one which she hadn't seen for the longest time. Danny stepped out of the car and walked slowly up the concrete pathway, still unsure of what she was walking into. She didn't know wether not knowing was better, but either way, she was about to be enlightened. Danny held her breath as her knuckles rapped against the door, she shifted on her feet, unable to keep still. Despite the sun sitting high in the blue sky above, a chilled breeze blew through her, ruffling under her skin and seeping to her bones. She hooked her knit sweater closely to herself as she waited impatiently, her baggy ripped jeans and scuffed up might have painted her in an okay light to a trend setting art entrepreneur, but they didn't help keep the cold out.

After what felt like hours the door finally creaked open, an ageing woman with greying blonde hair and kind pebble-stone eyes stood in the doorway. Her olive coloured cardigan was noticeably frayed and her skin looked tired, not from age, but from an undisclosed stress that had kept her awake for some time. Danny's stomach was in knots, the woman's frail smile was on the brink of shattering, her lashes were wet and her lips were dry from how much she'd been wetting them out of nervous habit.

"Come in sweetness." Donna whispered, stepping down from her front door and wrapping her arms around Danny's shoulders. The younger women didn't let on that she felt her elders chest rattle slightly, how her shoulders shook as she squeezed Danny tighter and tighter. For a few seconds, Danny didn't know where to put her hands, soon enough her arms melted to mould around the older woman's frame. Clutching her tightly and imagining that it perhaps could have been her own mother standing there instead, bittersweet jealousy came and went quickly, she only had Paige on her mind at this specific moment in time.

𝙴𝙻𝚂𝙴𝚆𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴

Kylo couldn't eat. Nor could he sleep. He isolated himself away like he had done in his premature adulthood, hiding away from his issues and willing them to disperse to dried ash. It was strange for him to avoid his troubles, they were usually something his fist or pocket knife could fix. But not this time, this was something far different then he had ever had to deal with before. She was on his mind. Night and day. Each passing breath he took was painful with the knowledge he had hurt her. As hard as he tried to forget, his mind wouldn't let him off that easily. He smelt her perfume when he laid his head to rest at night, he heard her voice rattle his head in the silence he provided himself with, when it was dark he almost thought he could feel her there. Like he could reach out and weave his fingers through her hair as she slept soundly curled to his widened chest.

But it wasn't real. Kylo feared it never had been, like a gifted mirage to a parched traveler in the desert, he was being shown something he could never hope to have. Kylo was too unloveable to treasure something so fine, he didn't deserve to lay his hands on her supple skin or hear her voice whisper praises in the moonlight. He was a terrible man who did terrible things, she knew that, he knew that. There was no running away or hiding from who he was, the scars etched into his skin proved his worth.

The last few weeks had shown Kylo that Danny was fully capable of living without him, not that he expected her to be incapacitated without him around, he just assumed she might have felt a tiny shred of emotion for him that would cause her to reach out. To come back, come back to him. Those thoughts were quickly abolished, he was selfish and misconceived to think that of her, Kitten had her whole life ahead of her. Kylo had already paved his way in blood and anger, he was unable to change his path. He was wrong to wish that she would understand, to think that she would come back to him despite the blood she knew stained his hands. Part of Kylo wished that he hadn't let her go in the way that he did, he wanted to let her go, that had always been his motive. He didn't want this life for her, he couldn't bring himself to clip her radiant wings. He could survive with watching from afar and managing things from a distance; she would be safe under his care even if it wasn't the type of care he wished to bestow upon on her.

It was humorous really. When had he become so soft? It was a sincere question Kylo had asked himself on a few drunker and sober nights alike. The nights he missed being inside of her and simply around her. That very thought proved his mind had been changed, what had started out as a lust-driven hunger was now an infatuation. That little four letter word beginning with L didn't register in his mind, at least not yet, he didn't understand that feeling enough to bestow it upon someone else. The pure fact Kylo had gone from letting his dick make the decisions to letting his mind navigate him had further proved he was falling, he had no remorse or sympathy for anyone. Yet he felt for her. It was eating him away inside knowing that she was no doubt walking around with bruises littering her wrist and throat from how badly he had let his temper boil over, that feeling had never occurred before. In his younger years he had broken Vic's nose and shattered Kuruk's kneecap, not even then had he felt sorry for the pain he inflicted. But now, right now he felt rotten for the way he had made her feel. Not only physically, but mentally. Kylo imagined her head was no doubt as plagued as his, he hoped that maybe she was torn between sides as was he.

Wishful thinking on his part maybe.

When he sat and thought about the last couple of months, he couldn't pinpoint when things had shifted. His mind fell to the one blissful night at her apartment, the one in which she had taken control, after spending quality time together in which Kylo wasn't balls or knuckles deep in Kitten's cunt the two of them hadn't just fucked. It was something more then that, Kylo was no saint by any stretch of the saying, but he had never been with a woman in such a way. In every country on every continent he'd been to he had never found a human being he felt for such as the one stabbing at his thoughts, she was everywhere. He almost hated it. The fact she made him weak, how she made him bend to her will despite her never commanding anyone a day in her life. He was so large and rough around the edges, how in god's name had he managed to find himself enthralled by such a meek little artist. She was so soft and delicate within his calloused brute hands, and she still fit so perfectly.

Kylo's chest hurt. The last couple of weeks had hurt, Danny's absence having been the soul source of his anguish. It made him sick. Literally. He didn't remember the last time he had taken ill like this, not in a long time. When he finally did try to eat he couldn't keep the food down, when he did try to sleep, his demons would be ready and waiting to startle him awake. Guilt began to creeps it's way in, like he could physically see the rivulets of blood that stained his hands and ran over the skin between his knuckles. He couldn't wash them clean no matter how hard he tried. Kylo couldn't bring himself to look in the mirror, he didn't care to see the state he was in and nor did he care that his eyes were rimmed with darkened shadows beneath them and that the facial hair on his chin and jaw was beginning to grow in.

Vircrul was a good friend. Not a good person, but an adequate man. He had left messages and texts on both Kylo's and Danny's phones, both of the devices sitting untouched on Kylo's bedside table where he'd left them to rot away. It seemed Vircrul was wise enough to know to stay away, keeping his distance was the best thing for him to do right now. He had seen to it that Jake's body would never be found, he'd kept his tabs on Kitten and managed to stay discreet about it; shit, he'd even managed to weasel his way back into Armitage's bed. It was apparent that drinking, cigars and sex were three things that Kylo and Vicrul shared as common points of interests; with killing mixed in there too. But Vicrul had very different reasonings. He had no mental attachment to Hux, it would never go further then just a physical pull that allowed him to distract himself from his qualms. Kylo could bet money on the fact that it could very much be Kitten in Hux's place, had Kylo not staked his claim then Vicrul would have simply sank his teeth into her instead. Vic was easily entertained, but he was charming. It made no sense that someone as clued up as Armitage was so easily fooled. Or perhaps it was Hux that was playing Vic all along, it didn't matter.

Given these facts, Kylo couldn't help but growl in his chest when he heard a rapid knock at his door. Not the alarm that covered the front of his home, not his more-then-annoying chirpy doorbell. But a rapid series of knocks that seemed too hushed for comfort, maybe Vic was drunk or just too damn lazy to care about using the fucking doorbell. Kylo knew one thing, he was damn sure that he wouldn't be letting him in. He was tucked away upstairs in his study, a room he'd not ventured into in the longest of times. It was fairly bare with no character, all was grey and colourless. Kylo mused that it was much like himself, muted and cold. When he heard the knocks rapping again as they echoed through his kitchen and up the mound of his stairs he chose to ignore them, thumbing through more of the old documents he'd been skimming for the last hour or so. Today he'd 'woken' up differently, instead of drowning a slug of whiskey he'd actually made himself a coffee. It was far too dark and bitter for his empty-sore stomach but it would suffice, it he could keep it down that is. He brewed his coffee and crept back up his staircase carefully, hoping that his legs would carry him to where he wanted to go. That's when he passed his study. His bare feet stopped in the wood floored hallway, his chest was bare too with just his work out shorts sitting low on his hips. Steam billowed from the rim of his coffee mug as he contemplated his thoughts, his fingers wrapped around the handle and he finally pushed the door open. After taking in the chilled interior he settled at his office desk, he balanced his mug on a stack of folders as he attempted to begin and sort through the desk-full of papers. He couldn't even remember what half of this shit was for, no doubt just bells and whistles Hux had forced him to take home knowing full well he would do nothing with the information. That's when the first knock came. Then the second; and then the third. As hard as he tried, Kylo couldn't ignore it. Half of him wanted to scream at Vic to fuck off, but the other half of him, might have dared to admit he missed him. Or at least missed interacting with an actual human being after weeks without any form of stimulation.

Abandoning his bitter coffee, Kylo made a quick detour into his room as he passed by it, snatching a hoodie from his walk in and shrugging it over his head as he walked down the stairs. It was a worn old thing, pale grey in colour with a few tears and holes here and there, he kept it to wear on runs in the autumn - winter periods. He didn't let on it's true origins or importance, it's not like he had anyone to tell. Kylo neared the bottom of his staircase, chuntering to himself as he pulled the hoodie down his chest to his waist. The time between the knocks were getting shorter, and slightly louder. Very slightly.

The man's affections for his dunce-headed brother were dissipating into thin air the closer he neared to the door, he couldn't promise himself he wouldn't pummel Vic when he finally unlatched the threshold. He was upon the door now, Kylo hastily unlocked and unlatched the door, ripping it open with such force he hoped it would scare the ever-living-shit out of Vicrul. Instead when he opened the door, his eyes settled on the one thing that had been plaguing his sleepless nights over the last two weeks.

Those pretty sea foam eyes were staring widely back up at him, they were sporadic and irritated red. He knew she'd been crying, within an instant; his anger was cast away like a vast ship lost to the crashing waves out in the grave seas.

When Kitten raised her hand to him, Kylo fully expected to be struck. Not that he didn't deserve it, of course he did. Kylo deserved everything he had coming to him and more. But she didn't move to hit him. Instead he looked closer, seeing a thick envelope she held tightly between her fingers. He knew what it was without even needing to ask, what he didn't know however, was why now?

"You can put that away." His tone was flat, he was too tired to muster up anything else.

Danny didn't looked at all shocked by his tone, that much was clear by the mocking smirk that played on her lips. She might have rolled her eyes if she knew for certain she wouldn't leave his place with bruises again. "You don't even know what it is." She responded, the envelope crinkled audibly as she clutched it tighter, her nerves were wired but she was determined not too let it show.

"Then enlighten me." Kylo's tone shifted slightly, if she wasn't here to fix things, then she needn't be here at all.

Danny didn't respond with her words straight away, instead she took a step forward, still planted firmly on his porch but still leering close enough to reach him. She stretched her free hand forward to take hold of his wrist, Kylo felt his skin buzz when she touched him, he swallowed thickly. With one hesitant movement, she placed the hefty envelope in his palm, ensuring to wrap his thick digits around the creased paper so tightly that his rings bit into the envelope. Danny looked up at him, his towering height had never scared or intimidated her in the past, save for the last time she was here. But right now, his looming presence seemed suffocating. Mocking her as she stood there before him.

"It's the money I owe you and Vicrul, I couldn't get ahold of him or I would have just arranged for him to pick it up. I knew you wouldn't want me here but I needed to make sure it got to you safely."

Danny tapped her finger over the envelope, just once as she spoke. Reiterating her point and ensuring it was received loud and clear, for once. She watched Kylo's face closely as she told him, seeing his eyes squint and his brow crease when she finally finished. His face was as stone cold as ever, his eyes were dark but the circles beneath them were even darker. Danny didn't agree with his life style by any means, but she couldn't help the tearing pain of heart ache that struck her in that moment. She'd never even thought about the fact of how much this may have been affecting him, Jake's death wasn't terrible or mourned, but Danny had felt guilty and somewhat responsible for his grizzly demise. She never imagined Kylo would feel that way, but maybe he did, it proved how little she still knew about him despite their progress.

"This isn't really why you're here, is it?" Kylo pressed, fisting the envelope in his hand as he stepped down from the doorway onto his porch, crushing the distance between himself and Danny.

She tried not to shy away too quickly, his mannerisms weren't threatening; yet. Danny didn't want things to go this way, and she would have been damned if she thought he wouldn't catch onto her game. Though there was no game to play when it came to Kylo, he was too fucking clued up to mess with. She hated the fact that she wanted to dare him to come closer, wishing that he would just close the space between them entirely. She didn't miss his attire, how subdued he looked; a ratty hoodie and sports shorts weren't the lounge wear she imagined him to own. She knew for a fact that he usually walked around his abode semi-nude, Danny thought she'd do the same if she looked like him.

"I wanted to thank you." She let out quickly, making sure to look him square in the eye despite the crawling grasp of nausea that ate away at her spine.

Kylo wasn't particularly good at letting his emotions show, perhaps it was for the best, but Danny had learnt to pick up on the shifting air around them when his mood switched. Like now, his eyes were no longer narrowed to fine points and his lips weren't pinched so tight. Those little details showed what he was thinking, what he was feeling. Kylo was taken aback by her words, rifling through his thoughts and memories in a split second to conjure a valid reason as to why she would need to share such words with him. Even though he had helped her in so many ways, he couldn't think of a single thing that should receive such recognition from her. He wasn't worthy of her kindness or her forgiveness, though he didn't have the latter just yet.

"I haven't done anything to warrant such words." He breathed, no longer able to look into Danny's sea-bream eyes, he found sorrow and sadness there. He chose to let his eyes take in the stretch of his driveway instead, scanning across the overgrown flourishes of shrubs and hedges that sprouted weeds and flowers alike in their wood-chipped bottoms.

"Paige would disagree." Danny smiled solemnly, following Kylo's eyeline as he studied his forgotten and loveless gardens.

As soon as the words left her mouth Kylo's vision was drawn to her, in that frozen moment he looked at her closely, really bleached every tiny detail of her into his mind just incase this would be the last time.

He watched as the frigid breeze blew through her ashen-blonde hair and swept it away in the wind, the red-rawness of her eyes didn't take away from their pure beauty in the slightest. He noticed how defined her freckles were from the sunlight the sky had provided as of recently, it should have pained him to know that she was living her days without a single qualm or worry about him. She relished in the sunlight and continued living while he hid himself away, but he couldn't hold that against her. She was wearing one of those dresses again, the flowery ones that were losing their colour from age and had threads hanging here and there from where Kitten had re-stitched the fraying seams. He liked those ones, before he liked them because they were easier and quicker to get her out of, now he liked them because they were completely her. She didn't match to the crude two-pieces she was made to wear while she worked, she looked fucking good but she didn't radiate confidence in them like she did her own clothes. Kylo liked that she wore her worn little dresses without much shame, the fabric was soft to the touch, just like his Kitten was. Only, he didn't know wether he could ever call her his.

"Can I get you a drink?" Kylo asked sincerely, he felt like this wouldn't be a quick conversation, and he hoped Danny might give him the chance to actually apologise for what he had done.

Kylo didn't initially wait for an answer, he stepped back through his front door and craned his neck back to look down on her. Seeing the conflict in her eyes made his chest squeeze, until she gave into it. Almost.

"It's barely ten o'clock." If Danny was attempting an amusing tone, she had done a shit job, her words left her mouth slightly spiteful. As if judging.

"I didn't mean an alcoholic one." Kylo stood still, he almost wanted to laugh at the fact she assumed he was suggesting getting onto the booze early, but then he realised she was completely correct. He had lost count of how many mornings he'd woken up still drunk from the night before only to drown his sorrows even further in whiskey and bourbon.

Danny looked at her feet as she stepped through the door, silently accepting his offer despite her better judgment. She wanted so hard to decline, to say her piece and leave it at that, but she couldn't live this way any longer. She needed answers, she hoped Kylo did too. If this would be the last time they saw each other, then what better time to get everything out into the open? She just prayed the both of them would keep their lids on, she didn't need a screaming match this early in the morning.

Kylo was already in the kitchen by the time Danny had removed her shoes, it might have given him the impression she planned to stay a while, she just didn't want to scruff up his home with her cheap worn shoes. She naturally moved towards him, but managed to maintain a solid distance. Danny opted to lean against the opposite marble counter top to the one he was stood in front of, she watched him grab two mugs; filling one with a large scoop of coffee grounds only to pause when he came to the other. He turned his neck so he was facing her but was beaten to it before he could even ask the question. "Do you have tea by any chance?" This was good, the words were flowing now, she hated that she had stuttered and stunted earlier. The ghost of a smile barely graced Kylo's lips when he nodded slightly, he shifted off to a cupboard and barely had to stretch to open it's door and reach what he wanted inside. Danny mused that she would have had to climb like a monkey to reach the cupboard Kylo was currently at shoulder height with, she would have looked like a child stealing cookies from a jar their parents had hidden from them.

There was no way she could have seen what was coming next, when he plucked the small recycled box from the shelf and set it next to the empty mug Danny could have sworn she almost swallowed her own tongue. Her favourite brand of raspberry and hibiscus tea, the very same box she knew she had sitting in her cupboard at home. Despite her hardships, she had never failed to pick up a box of her favoured tea. It seemed Kylo was more observant then she could ever imagine.

There was just silence as he boiled the water and set a teabag in her mug, Danny knew Kylo would feel her gaze on him, but he didn't move to match it.

When the drinks were done he took one in each hand, taking a sip of his own fresh coffee as he moved to place the mug of tea straight into Kitten's waiting hands. She wasn't about to be bratty and ask him for a drop of honey if he had it, she would enjoy the tea on it's own, it seemed to be more special when she knew he had bought it just for her. At least she hoped he had, it could have just been a cruel joke.

Kylo manoeuvred his way from his kitchen and into his living room, moving to sit onto one of the smaller arm chairs while he left the couch for Danny, but just as he went to seat himself; Danny spoke. "Kylo?" She hummed, watching as he snapped his gaze to her. She was stood somewhat awkwardly in the space between the kitchen and his living room, when she saw his eyes were on her she nodded her head over to the glass patio doors that led out into his back gardens. "Can we?" She asked, the warmed tea was making her palms sweaty as she clasped it tightly, or was it the nerves? Either way his stare was stifling, she had no idea if it was even appropriate for her to be asking him such things, think of it as a test. Kylo nodded his head, his long legs carried him swiftly to the glass doors and it was evident they hadn't been opened in some time from the way they creaked and cracked when he opened them. No doubt the rain and harsh weather had somewhat damaged them to the point they no longer wished to be opened, like a brick fitting perfectly to a specified space. Danny wasn't surprised by the breeze, this time it was welcomed. She thanked her past self for wearing socks this morning, when she stepped down from Kylo's home onto the back patio space she couldn't even think about how cold Kylo's feet must have been. He was already leading the way, his feet padding over the concrete and sinking into the plush grass that stretched over the back part of his home.

Danny followed him like a lost puppy, as much as she'd admired his gardens from his bedroom window or his living room sofa, she'd never ventured out here; Kylo had never offered to show her either.

Once or twice the raven haired man glanced behind him, still checking she was there. He didn't smile and nor did he slow his pace for her to catch up like he usually would, it felt strange. After only a minute or two of walking Kylo came to a stop, moving round to step closer to a small stone wall-like structure, instead of a wall flanking the perimeter of the entire garden; it simply surrounded a smaller flower bed. It was a charcoal marble that was icy cold to the touch when the backs of Danny's bare thighs kissed the smooth stone, the flowers held within it resembled shrubs more then blossoming plants that gained nourishment from the sun. They were pale and withered, she didn't know much about gardens, but Danny could tell that the sun, rain and photosynthesis hadn't been enough for the poor blooms. It seemed Kylo was neglecting more then just his own personal health, his homestead reflected his mood; cold and decaying. Malnourished and worn.

Kylo didn't sit beside her, in another life he may have gifted her little to no room. He would have her slanted right into his ribs as he pulled her close and listened to the steady exchange of air that passed through her rosy lips and fell into the chilled breeze blowing through the trees. In another life time he might have not waited for her to come to him, he would seek her out and follow his natural born instinct. Kylo often saw himself as a lot of things, but cowardly wouldn't have been the first thing that prodded his mind, nowadays that's the only thing he felt. He felt weak for letting her go, but he had pushed her away, literally throwing her out of his life and damning the thought of her staying to the deep calcified depths of the earth. The tall man opted to give her space, sitting at least a metre away from her as they both perched on the low stone wall that rested in the gardens.

"What did she tell you?" Kylo's voice flowed with the air, the frigid breeze was still cold and sharp, yet his words left his lips softly. His tone slightly warm.

Danny gave him a sidewards look, she hadn't forgotten what the man looked like, how could she; but she found herself drinking in every tiny - minuscule detail of his face carefully. The scar that ran from the top of his brow down over his eye and across his cheek was tinted a pale silvery pink from the cold weather, his ebony locks stood out against the pale greens and brows of his own withering garden, but his eyes were just the same. Lost and full of sorrow, that had been a detail hard to miss. Even before she found out what he was, who he was, she had known he carried a heavy burden on his shoulders. Between the brain-melting sex and the suffocating domination, Danny saw Kylo for what he really was, a boy that had grown up far too fast. When he shouted forgotten names in his sleep and let tears slip during his nightmares it was evident that he had demons chasing him, Danny never pried or tried to guess. Not in the beginning anyway. Now she knew far more then she thought she ever would, not that he had intentionally let it slip of course, but she still knew. She shed tears with him on those nights, when he hiccuped broken sobs in his slumber she would conjure horrific scenarios in her head of how he had grown up and what he must have endured to carry that kind of pain into his adulthood. Danny never would have guessed that he was a killer, she had come to the conclusion herself that Jake hadn't been the first. A smart and accurate conclusion.

"Paige didn't speak. It was her mother I spoke to."

Danny took a short sip of her tea after she gifted Kylo an answer, still unable to catch his eye.

Kylo thought carefully of his reply, he could tell that Kitten wasn't just going to spill her heart and soul out to him. He didn't expect her to do that. He was going to get his answers, but this time he would do it the right way. Killing Jake had sated his anger, it was like taking a heavy drag of potent nicotine after trying to kick the filthy habit, it was bad for him; but he just couldn't resist fucking the urge. The anger that seeped from every pore was now tucked away deep in the depths of his empty chest, the beast had been put back to rest now. With his job fulfilled he could focus on other things, things that happened to be his Kitten.

"I'm sorry." His words came quick but they weren't sharp, it was like spitting a bug from his teeth.

Danny hummed, Kylo wasn't sure if she was playing up to it or if she genuinely hadn't heard him. He went for the latter, she wasn't the type to be a brat for the kick of the chase.

Kylo cleared his throat and set his mug down beside him, the ceramic mug clicked against the cold stone as he rested it there, Danny didn't flinch away or furrow her brows when he held out his hand to her. At first she thought he was asking for her tea but she quickly forgot that idea, she did the only thing she could think of, she gave him her hand.

He was sat to her right while she was on his left, his left hand took her hand gently and he turned it over. He didn't let his face react to how cold her hands were, they were like tiny icicles in his calloused palm. The man had to inch a little closer, using one of his hands to hold Danny's while the other pulled lightly on the sleeve of the jacket she was wearing.

A thick clog of secondhand anger began to lodge in Kylo's throat when he saw the yellowish-green tint of faded bruises that covered Danny's wrist like a band.

She didn't snatch her hand away but she took it back, placing her palm back against the side of the mug as she clasped it again with two hands.

"It doesn't hurt anymore." She gifted, watching a small robin that sat only a few feet away on a withered branch in a birch tree.

Kylo let out a heavy sigh, following her eyeline when the tiny red-breasted bird flew away overhead.

"Anymore." He repeated with a slight scoff, his voice was pure gravel at this hour of the morning, this had been early for him as of late due to his lack of sleep.

"You've never been concerned when you've hurt me before." Danny gave curtly.

"This is different." He rasped, the tightness in his throat had returned to bite again.

"How?"

"I don't know."

A moment of silence fell over the two of them, Danny was grateful for the distant song of birds and creaking tree branches that filtered over the steady breeze. This was hard. She imagined he was just trying to free himself of the guilt, but she wanted to let him know that he didn't need to feel that way. He held her heart no matter what he had done and what he was yet to do, but that was a dangerous game to play. It meant that she was blind to who he really was, in the end, it would be her downfall. She would be the last chess piece in Kylo's intricate game, only to be lost, stolen and forgotten.

"They think Jake is missing, they don't know yet." Danny told quietly.

Everyone thought that. Local news outlets had picked up the story that a wealthy young man had gone missing after a night of drinking with friends, he was still yet to be heard from and only in the last few day's had the police launched an official investigation into a possible body retrieval. Jake's father had played his trump card, cash rewards for any information or concrete evidence as to where his son had ended up had become word of mouth. Of course nobody had anything, Hux had made sure of that, not an ounce of CCTV footage had been recovered or a speed camera photograph recorded. The system was wiped clean. It was like Jake had never even existed that night, the police were too pig-headed and corrupt to look too far into things. Armitage was wise of that fact, for he was the one paying them off.

"You don't know he isn't just missing." Kylo had let the words fall from his mouth before he could catch them, it hadn't been a smart choice, he knew that instantly.

It felt like an eternity before Danny replied, she pivoted to face him, letting her sea foam eyes bore straight through his own of thick honey glaze.

"You still think so little of me? I kept my mouth shut to protect you and Vicrul, I recognise my mistake."

Danny's tone turned sour as she spat her words, a deep scowl tugging at her brow as she set down her mug and stood abruptly.

"I'll see myself out." She hissed as she stepped forward, moving to pass by Kylo.

"No, that's not it." He projected, quickly standing to block her path back to his patio door.

"I'm not doing this again." She maintained, moving to step around his wide-muscled frame. Kylo didn't see the tears in her eyes as she tried to sidestep him, he was too focused on the words in his head and on his tongue.

"Doing what?" He asked genuinely but loudly, like he had no true idea of what affect he had on her.

"Getting hurt!" Danny's words left her throat strangled and hoarse, she'd broken, snapped like a twig under the unbearable weight of immanent choices she had to make.

Danny began to sob as she stood there, her socks were slightly damp from the grass but that was the least of her worries, the coldness travelling up her legs from her feet didn't match the icy-cold frozenness of her heart in her chest. It felt like it had stopped altogether, like the organ no longer had a purpose. Kylo wanted so badly to hold her, to rub her back and run his fingers through her hair till the wracking of her shoulders ceased. But he didn't move to do it, he thought she might push him even further away, and he didn't know if he could take that kind of hit. 

"I've tried so hard to do what I thought was right, I could have turned my back on you, but I didn't. I could have ratted you out and told the truth, but I didn't. And I don't know why." She struggled between her words, the words felt like they were strangling her but there was no stopping them as they left her throat. It was time to let them go, for weeks she had wanted to tell him, and now she had.

Kylo took her moment of vulnerability in his hands, taking a single step forward to close the space between them. Kitten moved to to step back but he caught her this time, taking hold of her elbow so that she couldn't run from this, couldn't run from him. His grasp wasn't harsh or commanding, she could have easily broken away if she wished. But as soon as his fingers touched her, she immediately eased, like his touch was the one medicine to be her cure.

"You know why." He whispered, his own eyes were glossy as he looked deeply into her own. In that moment Kylo looked at her like she was the sun, in that in the past he had never looked at her except in frustration. He basked in her warmth, he complained when she was gone, but he never simply looked. On days she was muted, he complained. On days she was stronger, he hid from her. He never looked at her until she was leaving, and in the beauty of the sunset he wondered how he'd never seen her before.

The two of them came together like the lowering sun and the rising moon, two halves of the same whole. Kylo's lips moulded to hers like they were carved to fit there perfectly, Danny's damp cheeks fit so well in his palms and Kylo never wished to take them away. He felt whole when his skin was on hers, like a passing life force between them pulsed and kept them both alive and breathing. In that fractional moment he knew what he had to do, Kylo couldn't pretend anymore, the physical and emotional sickness left in Kitten's absence would be the death of him. In all his years he'd dodged bullets and knives alike, he never imagined it would be the gentle caresses of a woman's hand to bring him to his knees. Yet it was, and he wasn't the least bit disappointed in that. He relished in it.

Kylo relished in Danny.

When Danny's nimble fingers wrapped around the width of his wrists Kylo felt something leap in his chest, like the cold calcified remains of his dead heart had been jumpstarted once more. It was no longer hidden away and buried deep down in the depths of his broken childhood, it blossomed like a spring flower after the harsh frost. It all came to a hurtling stop when the heels of Danny's palms pressed into the front of his shoulders, inevitably pushing him away. In both senses of the word, she was pushing him away mentally and physically. Breaking herself away from the tangible attachment she knew was there. Their lips were barely millimetres apart, their heavy breaths twining together as they both struggled for air.

"I can't do this." Danny whispered, she'd closed her eyes tightly, she knew that if she looked into those swirling honey-amber eyes that she would fall. It had happened before and it would happen again, Kylo seemed oblivious to the power he held in those troubled sorrowful eyes of his. They were shiny like polished carnelian crystals, but deeper then the deepest charcoal. They were breathtaking.

Kylo let his fingers find her chin, not forcing her but aiding her with meeting his gaze. She opened her eyes gently, more tears fell and her lip quivered. Neither of them knew it entirely, but they were both hurting as deeply as each other. Their absence in each-others lives had left them both cold, their skin turning blue from the lack of warmth they provided each other with. "Yes, yes we can." Kylo leant forward gently, allowing his lips to lightly brush against hers as he for once in his life sought out permission. Much to his gratitude, Danny pressed her lips to his once again, she couldn't fight or deny him any longer. It was a futile attempt at punishment, not for Kylo, but for herself.

Kylo didn't deepen the kiss, nor did he press his tongue into Kitten's bottom lip to force his way into her mouth. He pressed his lips against hers as softly as he could, letting the buttery plushness of her mouth rest against his as their lips twined together. He didn't want this moment to end, stood in the frigid breeze of his gardens with Danny's fingers fisting the worn-grey material of his hoodie as he held her as tightly and gently as he could to his chest. He wanted her to know how he felt, but he feared he could never say the words out loud. This was his chance to prove to her how he felt, and he would take that chance. No matter what repercussions came with it.

As much as he hated to do it, Kylo broke away first. Bringing his palm to cup Danny's cheek as the tears continued to slip over the plump rosy skin. Her lashes were wet and her nose and the tips of her ears were tinted pink from the cold. He pressed his forehead to hers, simply basking in the fluttery feeling that took over his chest. Her breathing was beginning to even out and her shoulders no longer shook with the rattling of her chest.

"I need you to see something." Kylo whispered to Kitten gently, stroking his palm from her cheek and through her ashen-blonde hair. She nodded softly to him, letting him turn the both of them to aim back towards his home. He had to touch her the entire way, wether he pressed his hand to the small of her back as she stepped back up through the patio doors or held her hand as the two of the ascended the stairs and rounded the hallway to his room. He had gone so long without feeling her skin on his, he wanted to make up for the time they'd lost.

Kylo wanted terribly to weave his fingers through her hair and get her out of the fluttery soft fabric of her dress. But that could wait, he had vowed to himself that he would make things right, and he would, but that had to begin with honesty.

Once the two of them were in his room he ushered her over to the bed, letting Danny perch on the end of his quilted mattress as he turned his back to grab something. Kylo disappeared through the door to his walk in closet, Danny could hear him rooting around for something but he didn't return for a good few minutes. She was mid-way through picking at her nails when he walked back through into his room, his weight dipped heavily into the mattress beside Danny and it caused her to slide into his ribs. In other circumstances she may have giggled softly and craned her neck to kiss his stubbled cheek, but they hadn't aired their troubles yet. Something cold and solid was placed in Danny's lap, part of it sat on the exposed skin of her lower thigh as it was left against her skin. It was a small rectangular box, one that had a small metal clasp that held it together in the middle. Her eyes met with Kylo's, silently asking a thousand questions which had only one answer.

He didn't provide that answer himself, he took her hand in his again instead, moulding her fingers around the metal clasp and leaving her to open it on her own. She gingerly unlocked the clasp, squinting one eye when the metal snapped back loudly despite the imminent silence her and Kylo were sat in.

What laid inside hadn't been what Danny expected, sat against the navy inner velvet lining of the box was a dog tag. One that was usually worn by the military. The metal tag itself looked damaged and slightly moulded out of shape, the chain was slightly knotted from it's time away in storage and by the looks of things it had been that way for some time. When Danny finally took it in her hands she ran her fingers over the embossed name engraved into the metal, what it read confused and intrigued her.

Danny couldn't recollect the name. Nor did she understand what importance this man held in Kylo's life, had it been a friend? Was it his father?

She dreaded to think about how the small trinket in her palm came to be, had this been the reason for Kylo's choices? Had this small piece of metal impacted the man she felt for so greatly that he chose such a dark and perilous path to follow? Danny didn't know for sure, but she hoped Kylo would tell her. She searched for his eyes again, only to find them glued to his hands that rested in his lap. His fingers were entwined together into a joined fist, the tension of his muscles was so tight that it could easily tear. Danny could see the clear tension of his muscles and he waited for her to fully take in what he had given her, Kylo was beginning to regret showing her the tag. But then he remembered his promise to himself. Honesty.

Danny let her thumb stroke over the metal pendant in her fingers, her soft fingertip gracing over the engraved name that she tried so hard to remember.

In the mitts of the silence, Kylo's voice croaked to life, snapping Danny away from her thoughts.

"I thought Ben had died a long time ago." He rasped.

Her brows knitted into a tight furrow, still turning the metal tag over in her fingers over and over again. 

She wanted so badly to ask him, but it was clear he needed to breath the words on his own, Danny needed to let him take his time to admit what was on his mind and tongue.

"But you've shown me he's still here, somewhere."

Kylo took ahold of her hand again as he spoke, laying her palm flat against his sternum when he finally let out the latter of his sentence. Things still hadn't clicked into place, not just yet. This still didn't explain everything, in fact, it didn't make anything clearer to Danny. She was still blind to his past.

"I...I don't understand." Her eyes switched between each of her hands, one pressed to Kylo's chest while the other still held onto the metal pendant tightly.

Kylo's eyes fell once again, a sad expression taking over his face as he willed up his courage to speak his next words. "I haven't always been Kylo Ren."

That had Danny's full attention. Those few little words could have meant so many things, yet she wanted clarification from him directly rather then playing her own guessing games.

"You told me you wanted to know who I was, even if it meant I lost you." His words were softer, drifting through to Danny's eardrum like a lost birdsong. She'd never heard him speak so gently before.

"I'm prepared to take that chance if it means you know the truth." He still couldn't meet her eye, but she didn't force him too. He was enough.

When Danny didn't reply he thought he'd blown it, scared her before he even had a chance to fully explain himself. When he felt her palm flip over his chest from under his own hand to lace their fingers together, he knew she was with him on this.

"The way you reacted that night wasn't right, the way you treated me the morning after was even worse."

Danny prodded, her tone strong from her throat.

Kylo in took a deep breath, fully prepared for her to thrown his confessions back in his face and walk away again.

"But I can't say I wouldn't have reacted the same way if I had led the same life you have." Danny squeezed his fingers in her hand, fully aware that there was a gulp of air being held in Kylo's chest. The man pulled her hand to his lips, gently pressing his lips to the back of it. A silent thank you.

"Tell me what happened to Ben." Danny whispered.

Kylo met her eye, his were full of worry while hers were full of forgiveness. He hadn't seen that in the longest time, if ever.

"Please." She squeezed his hand again, hoping it would shift his mind to agree.

Kylo nodded curtly. A hard look of determination etched into his features, he was sure of himself now, he was sorry for what he had done. But now was the time for change, in multiple respects.

Danny took her hand from Kylo's grasp, taking the metal chain in both hands to untangle it before she leant forward, shifting to settle on her knees as they stabbed into the mattress when she pressed her chest forwards. Kylo closed his eyes when she slipped the tag over his head, he didn't mind when it caught on his ear before it finally settled around his neck and hung over his chest. It felt foreign to where it again, a sick coil of pain twisted it's way through his gut but he quickly pushed the feeling away.

"I don't know where to start." He laughed solemnly, using his index finger to scratch behind his right ear sheepishly.

"You don't have to tell me everything today, or even tomorrow. I just need to know who you were, not who you are now. I want to know who you want to be."

Kylo placed his hand on Danny's thigh as she stayed knelt beside him, she was facing him and had all her attention focused on him. She would wait a thousand years if she had to, but she would wait patiently, even if patience wasn't her greatest virtue.

"I ran away from home when I was just a kid, too much drinking and fighting. I had no where to go, then Snoke found me. He took me in and showed me what it meant to be a man, but he also showed me what happened to those who weren't strong enough to make it that far." Kylo's tone shifted sour and spiteful, the name falling from his lips alone was enough for him to hiss like a back alley cat. He hated remembering him, the memories of the lashings and broken bones made him recoil physically.

"Snoke? Is-...Is he the one who gave you the scars?"

Kylo flinched slightly when Danny traced her finger over his shoulder blade and down the length of his spine. He hadn't noticed that she had noticed, he ensured she was asleep before he was, he made sure he didn't lay with his back to her. She'd seen small glimpses of the scars that laid on his chest and midriff but they didn't hold a candle to the thick bands and stripes of pink-silver scars that lined his back. Kylo didn't feel the need to be so careful in the beginning, he hadn't planned on her sticking around this long so he figured it didn't matter what she thought she'd seen. He now knew that she had seen a lot more then he had intended, but he put himself in that position of vulnerability. He chose it.

The man didn't fight the bowing of his head, a slight nodding gesture that caused Danny's breathing to still. "They're not all from him, my dad knew how to use a belt. But Snoke had his own methods of teaching, let's just say some were more endurable then others." Another slight-laugh vibrated from his chest, it was the only thing he knew how to do when he was letting himself be so bare in front of Kitten. Kylo didn't want pity or sorrow, he didn't want to feel weak for admitting the way he was raised. It hadn't been his choice, it was just how things had fallen into place at the hands of a bullying tyrant.

Danny clutched onto his clothed bicep, her nails barely biting through the thick texture of his hoodie.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Her words were sincere, too sincere. The emotion made Kylo feel too vulnerable, like he had been laid out for the vultures to peck at freely. "Don't be sorry for me Kitten, it couldn't be helped." Kylo rubbed from her wrist up to her arm as she stayed clung to him, as if her touch could jumpstart his beat-less heart. Little did she know, it already had. She wasn't sure how she felt about the petname, but for now she let it slip away.

"What happened to Ben, Kylo?" Danny was perhaps prodding too hard, but it didn't matter, Kylo would give her what she wanted.

The man took in a deep breath, taking the tag between his fingers and mimicking what Danny had done, rubbing over the name engraved there. 

"Snoke had these made so we could destroy them, gave us new names to go by so that we could kill our past." Kylo continued to hold the tag tightly as he spoke, still rubbing his other hand up and down Danny's arm."My heart was never in it, so I lied, I made another tag and destroyed that one instead. I've held onto this ever since, over the years I've contemplated getting rid of it, so many times I thought I was too far gone to ever need it again."

"What did he make you do?" Danny was getting brave now.

Kylo seemed to contemplate answering her question, as if she didn't already know what he was. Speaking the words out loud were very different from an assumption, he feared that was the one thing that would send Danny packing. "I've worked for him since I was a teenager, the First Order, best Killer's on the east coast. If not the country. He forced us into situations no kids should ever have to be in, when we refused, we were beaten within an inch of our lives."

Kylo wasn't trying to lighten the situation, his words were true, but he feared that Danny thought he was trying to make it seem like he had no choice. Of course he could have not killed for Snoke, he would have just died instead. Was that cowardly?

"He's still alive?" She asked. Kylo shouldn't have found her question comical, he didn't laugh out loud but he certainly did to himself. He couldn't blame Danny for assuming someone would have offed the man, the old bastard deserved it. "No Kitten."

Kylo leant forward towards Danny, he pulled one of her knees from underneath her and draped her legs over his lap. The noise that left her throat had his cock stirring in his shorts, but he pushed it aside for now. His fingers played with the butterfly hem of her pastel coloured dress as he continued speaking, "He got what was coming to him, Vircrul was the one to do it." Kylo searched Danny's face for a response, she stayed very still, but her eyes were calculating and confused. "Vircrul did it?" Danny queried with a deep frown. Kylo chuckled, "Only because he got there before I did." That much was true.

Kylo squeezed Danny's knee to catch her full attention, "I want you to know that's it okay if you don't want to come back, I'll leave you alone and so will Vic. But I also want you to know that I've never killed someone that didn't deserve it, Jake is only an example of the types of people we handle." He didn't want it to seem like he was tricking her, but she wanted the truth, so he would give it to her.

"They were all bad?" Danny hushed.

"They were all bad." He confirmed it for her, the slight shift in her eyes didn't settle Kylo all the way, but it wasn't a completely negative reaction like he had been expecting.

Kylo stroked his calloused hand over Danny's knee and up her thigh, then back down again. More so distracting himself then trying to distract her, he was keeping his hands busy so that he didn't scratch at his neck or the back of his head. After sitting in a short silence for a while, it seemed Danny had finally digested the full extent of what Kylo had chosen to share. It had been exactly what she wanted, honesty, but her head and her heart were still battling for dominance even as she spoke. "I'm not going to pretend that hearing all of that was easy, because it wasn't, but I'm also not going to hold your past against you. We can't help how we're brought, trust me, I know how it feels to feel alone surrounded by people. I know we're not the same, not by a landslide, but I want to help you. If you'll let me."

Danny traced her fingers over his scar. A habit she'd picked up since the first night the two of them met, it showed him just how much she wasn't afraid. His scar wasn't the first thing she noticed about him, and Danny wanted to make sure he knew that. It wasn't long before Kylo's fingers brushed against Danny's cheek and pushed her hair behind her ear, his palm settled against her cheek and his lips quickly found hers. In the same way they had in the garden, gentle and un-rushed, his lips caressed and moulded to hers so softly it felt almost featherlight. Danny's hands traveled around Kylo's neck and interlocked behind his head, inevitably pulling him closer and deepening the kiss. Kylo pulled away sharply, heavy breaths passing through his lips as his worry filled eyes found Danny's. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to, Danny knew. She shook her head gently, taking hold of one of his hands and laying it against the side of her ribs. Letting him know that she wanted this, she had missed him just as much as he'd missed her. She was going to show him just how much she was with him, Danny knew she didn't have to prove herself to him in that way, but she wanted this.

She wanted him to feel how much she'd missed him.

____________________________________

Make up sex is upon us folks🥰

I hope I did this justice lmao?

Full credit to louisamayanniecat on tumblr for the piece "he looked at her like she was the sun", I saw it on tiktok and fell in love with the message behind it. The thought fits Kylo and Kitten so well so I just had to include it in there...( I have edited it slightly <3 )

I was going to add smut here but I want it to be nice, long and juicy and the chapter would have just been far too long :(

Also a side note- I may or may not do a face reveal over on my tiktok, a few of you guys want it but I'm scared someone I know will find me lmao

Anyways I need to sleep because I have a 6hr car journey at 4am, all ways love you guys

N x


	15. 𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙳𝙽𝙴𝚂𝚂 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚈𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝚁𝙰𝙶𝙴

Kylo had missed the feeling of Kitten's skin beneath his lips, it was a feeling that couldn't be compared to. She was softer then buttermilk and sweeter then honey, her perfume was tangible on the skin of her throat. Kylo could taste it as his lips roamed her neck and collarbones, he could smell the sweet scent of her and this time it was real. It wasn't just a vicious nightmare that tricked him into believing she was there, her body was at the mercy of his lips and fingertips for real this time. Danny's head was thrown all the way back, her dress had long since been discarded along with Kylo's hoodie. The raven locks of his hair whispered against Danny's chest along with his chain and tag as he traced his lips down the valley of her sternum, pressing soft kisses to the moulded flesh of her breasts as he passed them in turn. Deep and heavy breaths passed through Danny's lips quickly, it felt like it had been so long since they'd felt the warmth of each other's skin, it made the familiar sensations of Kylo's touch all the more satisfying.

He trailed his lips from her chest down her stomach, gently kissing and nipping at her flesh as he went. Kitten was bare chested with nothing but her underwear left on her body, they would be discarded as well when Kylo had his way. Danny fisted Kylo's hair in her hand when he reached her cunt, she was certain she was wet for him already, as embarrassing as it was; that was just the effect he had on her.

He chuckled darkly, using his index finger to hook her underwear to the side so he could see all of her. She was certainly a sight for sore eyes and an aching cock, Kylo didn't think he could get any harder then he already was. His groin ached from the strain he was putting himself through, but he would go about this the right way, he barely even deserved her like this. He would take care of her this time.

Kylo's skilled tongue didn't waste much time. He kissed her cunt tenderly at first, gaging just how sensitive she had become over the absent few weeks.

When he watched her face crumple in pleasure with only the lightest of touches, he delved right in. His tongue searched and plunged at every inch of her, rooting deep within her soaked pussy. She gasped his name, her moans filled the room and twined with Kylo's praises as she fisted his hair again. Hard.

"So fucking beautiful Kitten." He rasped as he sank two of his digits into her cunt, she was so wet and took him so easily. Her pussy swallowed his fingers greedily as he pumped them in and out of her, twisting and plunging them deeper. Her gasps grew louder, her voice reaching a different pitch when he curled his fingers inside of her to reach her g-spot.

"Please, I need you now." She squealed when Kylo licked a stripe against the length of her cunt, still pumping his fingers with a more brutal pace.

"What exactly do you need Kitten?" He growled deeply in his chest, his shorts were becoming unbearable now, he was losing his grip on himself.

Three little words were all it took for him to pounce.

"I need You." Kylo practically leapt up when the words fell from her lips, crushing his lips to hers and pushing his tongue into her mouth. She moaned deeply at the taste of herself on his palate, it was such a lewd gesture but she didn't shy away from it.

He shucked down his shorts like a man possessed, he hated that his primal carnality tried to take over. But it couldn't be helped. Not with Kitten.

She was desperate for him too, his eyes had clouded over and his lips melted to hers like they were made to fit. Perhaps they were, perhaps the two of them had been cut from the same stone. It was strange really, Danny had heard people say 'opposites attract' but she'd never seen it for herself. Throughout her life she'd seen enough couples come and go, more likely then not, they were so similar to one another. They liked the same music and had the same preference when it came to dessert, they disliked the same foods and held the same heart.

Her and Kylo couldn't have been more different, it didn't bother Danny, but she knew it bothered him. He was so large with jagged edges, he'd lived through terrors and turmoils that Danny couldn't even begin to imagine. She was so plain and ordinary, her life had been lacklustre and lonely. Growing up without parents had been hard enough, her uncles drinking had forced her to live on the edge of her own anxieties. The day she lost her brother, everything came crashing back down to Earth. Zac was gone. Never to return. That in itself had been a hard pill to swallow, but it didn't compare to the unbearable wars Kylo had been through.

Once Kylo's shorts were discarded to the floor so were Danny's underwear, their tacky bodies stuck together like glue but they didn't mind it. Danny could feel the cold metal structure of Ben's tag pressing into her chest, it kissed cold against her skin but she couldn't help but feel the warmth behind it instead. They couldn't get close enough to each other, even a hairs breath away was much too far for them. Danny blindly grabbed for his cock, her nimble fingers struggled to wrap around the girthy entirety of him. She jerked at him and felt him grow even harder in her hand, if that was possible, Danny heard him hiss through his teeth as he hovered over her. Propping himself up on his palms as she laid so submissively beneath him, Danny wanted more then anything to push him back, to climb into his lap and take care of him like she had done before. But she knew he needed this, his display of vulnerability could only be taken so far, it wasn't about proving himself as a man; there was no need for that. This was about Kylo's own view of himself, he needed to prove himself to Danny and show her how he wanted to treat her, how well he could take care of her.

Kylo couldn't get enough of her lips, no matter what he did or where he touched her, his lips were always trapped to hers. He let his tongue stroke her own, the tang of her juices still lingered on his tastebuds and he loved it. His large - deft hands roamed her body, stroking up the length of her ribs and teasing down the inside of her thighs. She shivered beneath his fingers, moaning against his lips when he traced his thumb over her clit briefly.

Kylo didn't rush. As much as he needed to be inside her, he wanted to live in this moment. If he could stay here for eternity, he would have. Having her skin sliding friction against him was electric, his hands didn't know where to grasp for first. He gripped her hips then moved to massage her nipples between his fingers, each sound and mewl that left past her lips was music to his ears. God he'd missed this, he'd missed her. Their lips never parted, Kylo swallowed every praise and every little noise she gifted. Danny gripped his cock tighter, sliding her palm up and down his length swiftly. Kylo caught her wrist, startling her unintentionally as he did.

He bought her hand to his lips, pressing another kiss to the backs of her fingers. "You're perfect." Kylo rasped, his chest rising and falling heavily. He didn't intend for his words to hold so much weight, or maybe he did, he didn't know. He saw that her eyes were wet with tears she wouldn't let fall, the smile that pulled at her lips wasn't solemn or full of pity.

It was one of true happiness, content even, finally sated by the knowledge that Kylo was accepting and welcoming his new feelings. "And so are you." Danny turned the table, pulling at his wrist till his hand was flush to her plump lips. "Please Kylo, I need you." She was flushed and desperate, her chest and forehead were sheened with a shallow sweat as she pleaded for him. He couldn't deny her any longer.

"Ben." He whispered carefully, as if testing the name for himself after all this time.

Danny smiled again. This time a single tear did fall, falling from the corner of her eyes and traveling straight under her ear. She was flat on her back beneath Ben but she couldn't have felt any higher, it felt like they were floating on cloud 9. It was a different kind of flutter in her chest, hearing him say it himself couldn't be compared to. "Ben." She whispered back with a smile, he didn't smile but his lips tugged up slightly at the sides. He crashed his lips to hers again, her palms cupped his cheeks and she tried to pull him closer. She needed him closer. Ben took his cock in his hand, aligning himself with Kitten's soaking cunt, he teased her with the head of his dick and smothered her slick juices all over himself. When he finally thrust himself into her, it was like hitting home. Never in his life had he felt like this, not with anyone, nothing even came close. They both moaned shamelessly when he bottomed out inside of her, hitting her cervix with one deep thrust. Ben stilled for a few seconds, he didn't miss the slight twist of pain in Danny's face, he would let her adjust. The last thing he wanted on this earth was to hurt her in any shape or form. "Y-you can move." She hissed slightly, wiggling her hips to ready herself.

Ben took her word. He leant forward and pressed himself deeper into her, the man took her hands into his, interlacing their fingers and clutching them tightly as he pressed them into the matters beside Danny's head. She squeezed his fingers back, a silent go ahead for him to continue. Ben dipped down, catching her lips in a chaste kiss before snapping his hips back. Within a few strokes she eased, the tension coiled within her body began to dissipate along with Ben's control. His thrusts began to grow wild but he held it together, he clutched her fingers tightly and continued to peck kisses to anywhere his lips could reach. Her forehead, her cheeks, her lips and her throat had been his favourite places. Slowly but surely his pace increased, Danny grew wetter with each skill-full stroke of his cock and the moans that tore from her throat and reverberated around the room were earth shattering. Neither of them cared about their volume, they didn't have to.

She was so tight and wet and perfect, Ben couldn't handle it. When Kitten arched her spine and bent her knees that's when he really lost it, she squeezed him impossibly tight and he was ready to break.

"Fuck Kitten. So good for me." He hissed through his teeth when she moved again, moaning and rocking herself onto his cock as he pumped himself into her throbbing cunt. Danny nodded and whined but she couldn't answer him verbally, her brain was completely mush by this point. It only worsened when she felt Ben's thumb move to brush against her clit, rubbing small - clever circles around her sensitive bundle of nerves. She gasped and spluttered her praises, whining when she felt her incoming orgasm begin to take hold. "Ben I'm- fuck - I'm so close." Danny struggled to find the words, the bliss that was rocking her senses was indescribable. "Me too Kitten, me too." Ben leant down again, simultaneously pressing their bodies closer while moulding their lips together, his cock and fingers never ceased on her cunt. His strokes became deeper and more stuttered, he was so close himself, ready to snap like an elastic band. Danny clutched for his hair, raking her nails down his back when her high finally struck. Ben followed closely, burying his hips into hers as he spilled himself deep inside her cunt. A pleased grunt sounded through his chest, his vision was spiked with his white light but he didn't want to miss the sight below him. Kitten's mouth was hung open, her eyes barely rolled back in her head while her body shivered and quaked with her aftershocks. Ben propped himself to stay hovering above her, his chest was wet with his efforts and his hair felt damp and tacky against his forehead. It took a good few minutes for the two of them to catch their breaths, their limbs still buzzing with the overwhelming sensations of their orgasms.

Ben shifted his weight to one of his arms, propping himself up on his elbow to brush the backs of his fingers against Danny's forehead to move the damp ashen-blonde locks that stuck there. Their chests pressed into one another from how deep their breathing had become, Danny still shivered from her blissful orgasm and Ben was so reluctant to leave the warm encompass of her womanhood. He felt at home with her around, but being inside her was a feeling he would never will himself to forget. Danny cupped Ben's cheeks again, running her thumb over the scarring on his cheek. They stared at each for awhile even after they'd caught their breaths, looking into each other's eyes and finalising each freckle, mole and scar they could drink in. At times like this, Danny couldn't help but feel like the world was too good, between Kylo Ren's bedsheets; she felt untouchable. But in the warm embrace of Ben Solo's arms; she felt utterly and totally unbreakable. The strongest of currents could sweep them away and attempt to drag them under the violent seas, but it wouldn't matter. Because he would be there.

"I bet you think I'm such a crybaby." Danny laughed to herself, Ben was still hovering above her but he was closer. Almost laying beside her as she used the heel of her palm to wipe away the tears that pricked her eyes. The man frowned, using his own hand to sweep his hair out of his eyes as he clicked his tongue."I think you're a lot of things." Danny looked at him, her own brow slightly knitted. "But a crybaby isn't one of them." He gifted, leaning down to press his lips to her wet cheek. Danny smiled, pressing her lips together in thought as she busied herself playing with the tag dangling from Ben's neck and tickling her chest. "Ben, can we talk?" She asked carefully. From the look in his eyes, she could tell it was a question that came as a slight surprise to him.

"We have talked." He pressed somewhat defensively, Danny knew that Ben and Kylo were still one in the same in a lot of ways, so she didn't expect him to want to tell her all the stories of his life. But she wanted to get these things out of the way, she felt like she couldn't simply walk around his home or even stride down the streets knowing what she knew without having a few more questions answered. She didn't want him to feel hounded, if he needed time, she didn't plan on going anywhere. Danny only hoped he would see where she was coming from, some things were still yet to be let out into the open. They both knew that much.

"Don't worry, we can talk some other time then." She shrugged off her worries, well, most of them. It was stupid for her to pry and prod at him so quickly after they'd only just surfaced their truths. Danny looked up when Ben brushed his fingers through her scalp, he turned onto his side, still buried deep inside her when he pulled her with him to rest against his chest. "You'll stay won't you?" Ben asked quickly, almost as if he regretted the words leaving his mouth without permission. Danny hadn't thought that far, "I can't tonight, I have a meeting and I can't cancel it." She shouldn't have felt as rotten as she did in that moment, it couldn't be helped, but it still stung that Ben would be tucked up alone in his home while she was out at a fancy dinner chatting about the type of paints she used. "A meeting?" Ben's mind ran straight for Ushar, it sounded like a ploy on his behalf. "I met with an art director a few days ago, the same day I went to see Paige. He's offered me a commissions contract." Danny's beaming smile couldn't be helped, it may have been vain, but she was proud of herself considering how awful she thought the pitch had gone. Ben pulled out of her quickly and sort of painfully, he flipped Danny over and pressed her into the mattress by her shoulders. She didn't think about the absent throb in her cunt, she was too busy staring into the bright eyes of a stranger. She had never seen him wear that look before, it was a welcome change to his usual stone cold appearance.

"Are you serious? That's great news. Why are you looking at me like that?" Danny didn't register the face she was making, it was probably the sort of look someone wore the first time they witnessed a sunset or watched the moon rise from beyond the indigo-blue ocean. His brows were pinched when she didn't respond, her mouth was gaped for a moment.

"I think I like Ben more then I like Kylo." She smiled at that, hoping the man wouldn't take offence. She knew he hadn't when he pulled the pillow from underneath her head and smothered her over the face with it. Danny laughed wildly when he lifted it up to check she was still breathing, only to rest it back over her face again. "Remember who you fell for first Kitten." Ben growled before ripping the pillow away, bringing his face only an inch away from hers. "I don't think I could ever forget." Danny punctuated her words by thumbing the tag resting around Ben's neck, pressing her fingertip into the name engraved there. "Why don't you bring them here?" Ben gifted, sitting back on his heels and staring at Danny intently. Her face twisted in confusion, utterly perplexed at what he was referring to. "Bring who where?" She asked wholeheartedly as she sat up straight.

"The art director, bring them here. I can get a cook if you want." Ben's tone hadn't quite reached excitement, but it was on it's way there. Danny had never seem him in this light, it's like most of his worries had simply melted away, if only for a short time. It was still progress.

"I think you're getting ahead of yourself here, I don't want to put you out of your way." Danny fiddled with her fingers as Ben shifted to sit on the edge of the bed, it sounded like a truly lovely idea, but there was still a slight nervousness that hid away in her stomach. Ben's neck snapped in her direction, as if he was offended by what she had just said.

"Call them and tell them you'd like to invite them to your place for dinner instead, I'll arrange everything else." Ben's tone darkened a tad, warning her not to argue with his request. "I don't think that's a good idea, I promise I'll call you when I finish up tonight. We could grab coffee tomorrow?"

Danny watched his face twist for a moment before his features finally relaxed, admitting defeat. "Fine."

"Move your foot." Ben was still annoyed that Kitten hadn't agreed to his idea, but he didn't follow through with his sulking for very long. It's like she knew how to change his mind, even if that wasn't her intentions. She hadn't suggested a shared bath so she could seduce him into a better mood, she did it because she wanted to wash his hair. She wanted to relieve the tension in his shoulders with her fingers and help him rid his cheeks and jaw of the pesky hairs that attempted to grow through, because in her eyes, that's what he deserved. As much as her brain still fought itself with the thoughts of Kylo's past, she couldn't help but think about what the future held for Ben. She wasn't scared of him, and she didn't dream in a million years that he would hurt her. He'd said it before himself, he would never hurt her on purpose, she knew his words weren't empty either. She had nothing to worry about when it came to her safety, not from Ben anyway. They were laid up together in Ben's grand bathtub, their wet bodies pressed together as they melted into the hot-steamy encompass of the water. Danny had bathed him like a child, but he was too tired and contented to fight her off. It was nice to feel her fingers run through his scalp, and he didn't mind having a razor held to his throat when it was Danny as she cleaned up his stubble. She'd been the only one to do so and live to tell the tale. She had washed her own hair and settled back between Ben's legs with her back laid to his chest, for the briefest of moments, it was like the earth stopped spinning. It was just the two of them and no one else, a comfortable silence providing the only company. Ben's eyes were closed shut, he didn't know how he hadn't fallen asleep yet. The past two weeks had been torture without her, he knew now he could no doubt sleep peacefully. He was so tired that he hadn't felt her twist in his arms, he didn't feel her fingers fiddle with the chain around his chest as her breath tickled his ears.

"Let's go to bed." She whispered quietly, she didn't know wether he was asleep already or not. She had felt his breathing even out and his body grow heavier in the tub, it's not as if she could drag him to his bed herself. Ben hummed at her voice, his eyes barely cracking open to see her kiss his cheek gently.

"Come on before you get cold." She stood up, rivers of water ran down her curves and off her body creating a greater noise then she would have wished. Ben fully opened his eyes, raking them up Kitten's body filthily despite the steadying of his pulse.

"I want to stay awake with you till you have to go." He groaned, sitting up a little straighter against the edge of the tub. Danny crouched down to his level, stroking her fingers across his cheek. "I can sleep with you for a bit if you want, I haven't slept very well lately and I can tell you haven't either. Come on now." Her voice was so gentle and quiet.

It was entirely Kitten.

Danny hopped out of the tub carefully, quickly yet quietly dashing over to a stainless steel radiator type railing that held a handful of towels ready to be used. She snatched two of them and could hear the sloshing and heavy torrents of water before she turned around again. Ben's heavy feet hit the floor, his eyes looked bleary and tired but Danny could see he was trying to fight it. She came back to him before she had even wrapped a towel around herself, he took the towel from her hands carefully, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of her scalp before he tucked the towel around his waist. "We can talk later if you want to." Ben's voice was a low gravelly rumble from his chest, like an annoyed dog, but nothing about Ben was annoyed. The softness in his voice was still present, Danny half thought that maybe he would forget he even offered such a thing when he woke up later. He was running on bare fumes, as was she, Danny wanted to get him to rest as soon as possible. She could see the fatigue clear as day, from the slope of his eyes and the slump of his shoulders. "Okay." She gifted gently. The two of them dried quickly, not wanting to waste more then a minute when they could be curled into one another in the plush freshness of Ben's vispring mattress. Ben pulled on a bare of black briefs and returned from his walk in with a plain t-shirt in his hands, when he walked back through the door; Kitten was already nestled snuggly into his side of the bed wearing his worn old hoodie. He didn't bother to disturb her or say a word, he threw the t-shirt back into a drawer and moved closer to her. It seemed Ben's ability to stay deathly silent would come in useful for other things rather then sneaking up on his prey, it would help him keep his Kitten sleeping soundly and undisturbed.

The two of them were like magnets. Drawn to one another like a bee to honey, as soon as Ben's weight dipped into the bed; Danny was there. Ben left his back to her when he felt her fingertips trace along his shoulders and down the dip of his spine, her fingers lingered on the latter in particular.

"You've lost weight." Danny thought the same earlier, the man hadn't lost his muscle tone and definition, that much was clear. But he certainly had dropped a little, the angles of his face were more defined and his collarbones and vertebrae stood out far more prominently then they had before. The lack of sleep didn't help either, the darkened shadows beneath his eyes made him look poorly. It made Danny's heart squeeze, she wasn't one to jump to conclusions, but she couldn't help but feel guilty for the man's current state. "Don't worry about it Kitten." His tone was gentle again, it's like he'd picked it up from her when she used it to calm him down. He was giving her a taste of her own medicine in a way. "You tell me not to worry but how can't I?" Danny pressed a kiss between his shoulder-blades, continuing to trace her fingers up and down over each scar that littered his beautiful pale skin.

"Danny, it's fine." Her name sounded foreign falling from his lips, but it didn't half make her thighs shiver. She didn't want to mother him, it was the last thing he needed, he was a grown man. He didn't need someone fussing and worrying, but after weeks without seeing each other, she couldn't help but let a tiny slither of worry remain within her. "Try and sleep, you'll feel better." When the last word whispered past her lips Danny felt Ben stir as he shifted to turn and face her, he wrapped an arm to hook around her waist and pulled her to his chest. His other arm was sloped over the top of both pillows just above Danny's head, Ben played with a strand of her hair softly. He knew she liked it.

Just when Danny began to drift into a tranquil slumber, she felt Ben's chest jolt under her cheek. She didn't open her eyes but she listened carefully, then another hiccup of his chest came, he was crying. It seemed he'd mastered the art of staying quiet, he pressed his face into her hair gently, simply just savouring her in her purest form. Danny didn't feel the need to make her consciousness obvious to him, she also didn't want him to feel like he needed to hide his worries and troubles from her. But Rome wasn't simply built in a day, it would take time to build those bridges with Ben. He may have always been there, somewhere deep down in Kylo's chest, but he hadn't seen the light for a long time. It would take the same amount if not more time for him to adjust, Danny was prepared for that. She didn't want Ben's entire heart in her hand now, she would wait an eternity if it meant she could have the entirety of him later on. She wanted to share in his pain, she wanted to share in his sorrows; she would hold him through the nightmares and be there to hold his hand when the tears came again. Danny would wait for the day Ben would share his happiness with her, she couldn't wait for the day's when he wouldn't hesitate to show his smile. She just wished he knew how beautiful it was, the dark handsomeness would never cease to exist. Danny knew that, but she couldn't help but be excited for when he let his face soften and his brows ease. She wanted to help him melt all of his tensions away and let them flow away on the cold summers breeze. Danny was careful not to let him realise she was awake, she pressed herself into him gently, she didn't want even an inch to keep them apart. She really shouldn't have been sleeping her day away, not when she had so much to do, she liked to think she'd mastered running on empty as of late. But she couldn't deny Ben, she wanted it too, she wanted to press herself into him and fall into a worry-less rest. So she did. Ben's chest finally evened out, that's when she finally let herself fall asleep. With their bodies twined together and their rising chest synced to a perfect rhythm. As it should be.

𝙻𝙰𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶

"I'm so pleased you could make it Miss Porter." Kade Hackthorn was as immaculately dressed as the last time Danny had seen him. He wore a dark navy shirt and crisp suit jacket, his trousers were a trendy tartan design and his shoes were as polished and bright as his cerulean eyes. His voice was just the same too, thick and rich.

Danny felt underdressed, she'd sifted her way through the number of dresses she'd borrowed from Paige. Tonight's was a tight fitting tube dress that was strapless and came to just above her knees, it was a deep emerald colour and it was complemented by a slit that ran up her right thigh as stopped at a modest point. She felt amazing in the dress, but when her eyes scanned the restaurant Kade had bought her too, she soon changed her mind. The women and men alike wore expensive gowns and crisp suit shirts, Hackthorn fit right in. Danny didn't.

In true Danny Porter style she had shown up a few minutes late, Poe had been an absolute darling and let her borrow his car rather then hop from subway to subway. But even then she couldn't make a simple deadline, Kade brushed it off right away. Seemingly unfazed by her tardiness. In her flustered state, Danny had failed to notice a lovely little brunette sat to Hackthorn's left. She was extremely dainty and utterly pretty in the face, she had small circular glasses and a button nose littered with freckles. The man introduced her as his assistant, Danny didn't assume anything otherwise.

The ashen-blonde took a seat as Kade alerted her that he had taken the liberty and ordered a bottle of wine, she thanked him greatly. The two fell into a comfortable and reasonably average conversation, Danny wasn't familiar with how these particular things worked, but she assumed business would come later. Perhaps after more wine.

Just when dinner menus were provided for their table, Danny heard a familiar voice come from behind. Then she heard footsteps, very familiar footsteps. That's when she finally craned her neck to see him, in all his brutally handsome glory. He had taken her completely by surprise, he had failed to mention he would be joining her. She didn't even know how he knew where she was, she hadn't shared that information with him. "I'm so sorry I'm late sweetness, forgive me." He pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek before seating himself next to her, directly across from Kade's assistant. Hackthorn didn't look at all surprised or startled, his eyes barely widened or even took in his surroundings. "And who might you be sir?" Kade asked carefully. The man across the table from him smiled, raising his eyes and looking at him intently. "I'm Miss Porter's manager, Vicrul Ren." Danny's jaw was set incredibly tight, she feared if she loosened it she would have to pick it up off the floor. She had so many thoughts running through her head at that moment, yet not one of them came up with a reason he was here. Vic looked dashing. His crisp white shirt was bright and clean, he wore suit trousers that were tailored to him immaculately and his brogues were as smart as usual. Danny felt slightly sick when she focused on his tie, it matched her dress perfectly. Right down to the satin-shine finish of it. Even if Danny wasn't convinced of his cover story, Kade seemed utterly caught hook-line-and-sinker. Even his timid assistant sempt to shrink away from the man, his presence certainly was large and loud.

Hackthorn looked at Danny directly, his eyes boring through her. "You didn't tell me you were bringing someone, I would have ordered another bottle." His smile wasn't false, but it was clear he didn't gift the gesture often. It was a rather ugly smile. Danny laughed slightly, "It was a very last minute decision, I'm so sorry I didn't mention it earlier." She was beginning to sweat, her nerves were on edge and she felt like she was turning red. This was an incredibly big deal for her, the last thing she needed was Vic fucking it up for her. "It's not a worry Miss Porter, you neglected to tell me you even had a manager." Kade gave Vicrul the eye, as if trying to match him up.

Before Danny could get her word in, Vicrul spoke.

"We're very close outside of work so we simply hate putting a label on things, we're a team either way. Aren't we doll?" It was lucky Hackthorn couldn't see, because under the table Vicrul placed his hand on the top of Danny's thigh, squeezing slightly which caused her to flinch. She managed a weak 'yes' despite wanting to punch him in the gut and slap his hand away, but she couldn't even react. Couldn't even twitch her lip in disapproval, and Vicrul knew that very well. "I can see you two are close." Kade managed, eying his assistant through his peripherals. "How about we discuss business before we order dinner, I'm sorry that it may be inconvenient but Miss.Porter and I have a lot of paperwork to go over for her out-going commissions. It simply can't wait much longer." Danny was frozen, it's like her throat had completely dried up to dust. Vicrul was very good at lying, too good, but Danny supposed that came with his trade. Again Kade looked convinced, like he sincerely believed the lies being fed to him like a worm to an infant bird."If it makes it easier we can always reschedule, I can-" Danny piped up at Kade's words. "No! Erm no, that won't be necessary sir." Hackthorn gave her a glance, not one of disapproval or judgment, mainly bewildered. "Very well then."

Dinner came and went quickly. Danny was pleased that she was able to speak up more then Vicrul, he merely nodded and hummed along with her words as she spoke professionally to Hackthorn and his assistant. Only when they began to discuss money did the German choose to pipe up and enter his ten pence. "For the gallery feature I am willing to go 60-40, in my favour of course." Kade sipped on his wine after he'd spoken, his eyes closing as he severed the crushed blend of berries and grape on his tongue. Danny was more then happy with that, she barely even expected that much. She could make up the difference with commissions, she knew that for sure, she'd managed so long without a stable income and this was at least an improvement on that part.

Both Kade's and Danny's eyes were drawn to Vicrul when he let out a genuine throaty laugh, one of mocking. "Not a chance. She goes 50-50 or not at all." His tone was even but his stare was sharp, cutting slices through Hackthorn without him even knowing it. As soon as the words left his mouth, Kade's assistant began writing quickly in her notepad. Thumbing through the pages quickly. Hackthorn cleared his throat, his own eye beginning to sharpen as he somewhat stared Vic down.

"Please understand Mr.Ren, that is entirely impossible. Between the commissioned pieces and the gallery debut, the funds are simply to be more in my favour." Danny wanted to be sick, she was happy to take what she could and run at this point. She didn't need to be equal to succeed, artists and painters wanted years or even lifetimes for an opportunity like this, and Vic was screwing it up.

"Then I'm afraid we have nothing more to discuss here, Mr.Hackthorn." Vicrul stood abruptly, taking Danny by the arm and attempting to pull her along with him. She didn't want to fight against him and cause a scene, but she also didn't want to leave.

"Maybe I could suggest something?" The utterly timid whisper came from Hackthorn's assistant, the three other recipients at the table craned their necks to her, she shrunk back into her seat. The timid brunette, who Danny had learnt was called Freya, glanced over at her boss. As if seeking permission. With a curt nod of his head she continued, Danny pulled Vic back down to his seat to which he glared at her for. "Mr.Hackthorn is correct when he says that the extra funds he takes go towards the gallery finalisations and the actual commissioned artworks, but maybe we can meet a compromise that improves the deal on both ends of the party." Kade leant in closer to listen to her to which she blushed at, "let's hear it then." Vic said lamely, as if he wasn't convinced she could improve their deal.

The timid assistant cleared her throat, wetting her fingertip on her tongue to skim through a few pages in her notebook. "50-50 could work, but a few things would need to be added on your end Miss.Porter."

The girl looked pointedly at Danny, that's when she noticed they weren't that far apart in age at all, Danny wet her lips before she spoke. "I would perhaps be willing to agree to different terms, dependant on what they are of course." She hoped she was convincing enough, she could feel Vic's eyes on her the entire time she spoke but she didn't dare to look at him. "I was thinking we can offer a certain specialty on commissions that are taken the night of the gallery debut, individuals that wish to commission you would get a considerable discount if they are one of the first six, it makes sense for the offer to stand as it would make up for the percentage loss. It only means that you will technically take a smaller cut in the long run but I feel it would be beneficial to get your name further out there."

The petite brunette shared a smile, one that only grew when she glanced at the approving look of the slim man beside her. Danny mulled over Freya's words, tasting them on her tongue and savouring their meaning. The agreement sounded more then fair, she didn't care that she would practically be giving her commission slots away, in the long run; it would only help her progress further.

"That sounds perfect." Danny smiled too, only then did she choose to finally lock eyes with the man seated beside her. His stare was clever and calculated, like he was dissecting Danny's character and tearing her apart. "Sounds good to me too, I'll cheers to that." Vicrul lifted his glass, he barely had a slither of red wine kissing the bottom of his glass but he raised it regardless. Kade nodded in approval, lifting his own glass and tipped his brow for the women to do the same. They copied the gesture, the four of them clinking glasses and taking a long drawn out sip, bar Vicrul of course.

When the meal and discussion was finished, Danny excused herself, hoping that Hackthorn wouldn't take any offence to her slight rudeness. He had paid for the dinner after all. The man wished her a pleasant evening, telling her off when she tried to spew mountains of apologies to him. Just when she thought she was in the clear, she sensed a body at her heels. Of course he wouldn't leave her alone, Vicrul must have had other intentions for their evening. Because he certainly didn't need to sponge off of a froo-froo art director to get a lavish meal in his belly, the man's necktie probably cost more.

Danny waited till they were in the safety of the darkened parking lot, where she knew no one would ease drop on their conversation. The ash-blonde bided her time for a few strides, listening to the methodical clicking of her heels against the pavement as she walked. Swiftly she turned, raising her hand in an attempt to land a solid swat to wherever she could. Danny didn't get that far, Vicrul easily grabbed her wrist in hand, pulling her forwards quickly so she was flush to his chest.

"Is that the way you treat me when I just helped you land the first major deal of your career? Naughty Kitten." Vicrul's voice was low and raspy, his tone like gravel and spit stone. Danny snatched her wrist free and pushed him away, he came right back.

"Why are you here?" She spat, hissing like the aforementioned Kitten she was always called.

Vicrul seemed to test his words in his head before he let them free, a smirk tugging at his devilish lips.

"I'm just here to help Kitten." He gifted smoothly, bribing up his hand to push a stray blonde hair from her vision. She immediately stepped back, slightly on edge due to his change in demeanour. Danny hadn't seen him since the night of she found both him and Kylo spattered in blood with a close-to-dead man at their feet. He didn't look at all like Kylo had done today, his hair was full and healthy and his face did look shallow or pale. If anything, he looked even better then he had before. Danny was sure she could see a new pattern of ink twisting from the bottom of his shirt collar and up to the mid of his neck. That definitely hadn't been there before, that she was sure of. "Why would you help me? You don't know I haven't ratted you out, the police could be looking for you as we speak." Danny flinched when the distant wur of a siren rang and echoed between the surrounding buildings, as if to punctuate her point. Vicrul didn't even blink, his smirk tugged up even further. "You must think I'm an idiot." Vic laughed, plunging his hand into his pocket and pulling out a box of cigars and his lighter. Danny watched in silence as he withdrew a smoke, moving it to sit between his lips as he light the end of it.

"I know you haven't ratted me out just like I knew where you'd be tonight, just like I know you aren't headed straight home after this." Vicrul's tone shifted, adopting a darker and more sinister body.

Danny wasn't scared of him, she had been for the last few weeks, living in the unknown of both his and Kylo's mental states hadn't helped her sleep at night. But now she had Ben, she had hung Kylo out to dry and let him blow away in the wind. Despite Kylo technically being gone, she knew that anger and pain would forever hold it's grip on Ben. That's why she knew for a fact that Vic would never be able to threaten her and get away with it, over Ben's dead body. "You don't know what you're talking about." Danny spat, puffing out her chest so that Vic knew she wouldn't be intimidated by him. The man chuckled dryly in his chest, balancing his cigar between his lips as he dug around in his pocket again. When he withdrew his hand, the man stepped forward and snatched Danny's wrist. Placing the contents of his hand in hers, when she looked, she could see it was a thick stack of Polaroid printed pictures. With each one she folded behind the other, it became clear just how much he knew. There were pictures of her walking down the street, getting into Poe's car, hopping off the subway. Walking in Kylo's back gardens. A picture of her stood nude through Kylo's window as she bent over to retrieve his hoodie from the floor as she intended to dress into it.

She wanted to be sick. Danny thrusted the pictures to his chest, it seemed like he had been expecting that reaction, he caught her hand before she could snatch it away. Holding her palm to his chest with the prints pressed together in between.

"My priority is to keep you safe. Nothing more, nothing less." Vic was clever, but he wasn't as acclimated to women and their behaviours. It seemed Danny had caught the wrong end of the stick, believing that Vic had taken these pictures out of his better interest or to prove a point. How wrong she was, greatly wrong. Kylo hadn't specifically asked anything of Vicrul, the man simply appointed himself as Kitten's long distance personal security. Wherever she went he kept tabs, when she visited Paige especially. It wasn't that he was making sure she didn't rat him or Kylo out, he was making sure that nobody else was following her. Ushar had practically disappeared into thin air after unnerving Danny to the point she questioned both Vic and Kylo, if Ushar hadn't have found Kitten in the first place, she might have never even ventured to Kylo's home that night. She would still be none the wiser to who they really were and wait they did. Vic knew it had to come out sooner or later, but it sempt like it all happened so fast. The last few weeks he had spent countless hours attempting to track Ushar down, yet he came up short, all the while Kylo was tucked away in his home throwing his guts up over an aching chest. Vicrul couldn't sympathise.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Danny curled her fingers into his chest, crumpling his shirt along with the pictures. "Because it would have made my job a whole lot harder." Vic brushed his thumb over the back of her hand, his face softened slightly, even now he was still on high alert to his surroundings. Ushar had always played dirty and unfairly.

"Have you been to see him?" Danny knew that he knew who she was referring to, and she also knew the answer without him having to speak it by the solemn expression he wore. "It hasn't felt like the right time yet, from what I saw this morning I can tell that the two of you are back on the same page."

Vicrul didn't make a crude face or wink at her, the two of them were far beyond the flirty playfulness they exchanged before, well; it was one sided.

Danny's cheek burnt when she realised he had seen her naked, he'd no doubt seen them at it too. She just hoped it hadn't been more then a passing glance. "A lot was said this morning." That's all she was willing to gift to him, it didn't feel like it was her story to tell. Of course Vicrul had known both Ben and Kylo, but she could guess he didn't know about Kylo's change of heart. She would wait for them to have that conversation for themselves.

"I have something I want you to give him." Vicrul released her hand and stepped sideways to walk past her, headed straight for his car that was parked up next to Poe's. "What is it?" Danny queried, following him like a lost puppy as her curiosity grew. When she reached the cars Vicrul turned, a pearly white smirk tugging at his lips. "Let's go pick it up."

Ben had left the door unlocked for her. Danny crept through the threshold of his door quietly, making sure to lock his door behind her and leave her heels at the door. Her feet were achey and sore, there hadn't been an occasion lately that called for her to wear such ridiculous shoes. She didn't know how she managed all those shifts stuck in high platform stripper shoes, the feeling felt so distant now.

Danny clutched Vicrul's gift tightly in her hands as she walked through the living room and headed to the kitchen, she placed it down on the marble counter gently. It seemed all her actions were slower, she'd barely had that much wine because she knew she needed to drive. But that didn't stop the slow pulsing of her blood in her veins, she felt sluggish.

With feather light steps Danny crept up the stairs, wincing when one in particular groaned under her weight. She tiptoed down the hallway and peeked through the crack in his door, much to her delight, he was sound asleep. She could see the even rise and fall of his back as he rested on his front, his head was smushed into his pillow and his arms were nestled beneath it. Danny stepped through the door, closing it carefully behind her. She didn't waste much time in the bathroom, she washed away what little makeup she had on her face and borrowed Ben's toothbrush to clean her teeth, lastly she peeled the tight tube dress from her body. She wanted nothing more then to shower and slightly sober up, but she feared she wouldn't stay up right for long enough. Ben's bed was calling to her, or was that just the wine?

Danny turned off the bathroom light and turned her back to shut the door, the room was dimly lit from Ben's bedside lamp, she could barely make out shadows in the dark. But when she turned, his deep amber eyes were hard to miss, they practically glowed in the half peach light. She held a gasp in her throat, Danny could feel the way his gaze seared her skin, drinking in her bare chest and lacey panties.

His face was shrouded in a slight shadow, the sharp angles of his features only heightened by the glowing lamp. Ben was now sat against his headboard, his hair was wild and his eyes were dark. Full of lust and well rested. Danny felt her tummy flutter.

"Come here Kitten." Ben's voice was pure gravel and smoke, deep and rich from rest. Danny felt her cunt clench, between the wine and his voice. She was falling quick, completely putty in his hands.

She obliged to his command, crossing the room slowly and languidly as she watched him watch her.

The covers were thrown off and rested by his feet, his briefs were sloped to his hips and his thighs visibly tensed when Danny rounded close to the bed.

Ben slid his hand up her waist, guiding her to straddle his lap and sit against his growing erection. She slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, raking her nails over his pecs when she trailed them back down. Danny leant forward, pressing her lips to the side of Ben's throat till she reached the shell of his ear. "Your dinner is downstairs." She whispered into the side of his hair, shivering when his fingertips ghosted up over her ribs and down her spine. The man laughed deeply within his chest, Danny pulled back and looked at him with furrowed brows. "My dinner is right here Kitten." He growled into her neck, cupping her clothed cunt hard. She whined his name, bucking into his hand when he pressed his thumb to her clit.

Danny pushed at his shoulders and forced him to meet her eye, "You need to eat." She pressed, tracing her fingers over the prominent dip below his collar bones. Ben crowded forward, kissing the valley between Danny's breasts and nipping at the soft-plush flesh of her mounds. "I plan to Kitten, but right now." He pushed his fingers to move her underwear aside, tracing up her slit and feeling how wet she was for him already. "I want to be inside you." He pressed his lips to her own with greed, taking her bottom lip between his teeth and biting down. Danny didn't hesitate to fall into him, melting to his body and pressing herself even closer to him.

Neither of them cared to wait, Danny needed him and she needed him now. Ben was the same, their kisses grew hastier and their bodies grew feverish. He palmed her breasts roughly, catching the stiff peaks of her nipples between his lips to suck them skillfully. Danny moaned obscenely, grinding down to meet the hardened bulge in his briefs. With a deep growl Ben snapped the thin lace covering Danny's bottom half, she didn't care and neither did he.

Ben shoved his boxers down his hips and took himself in his hand, pushing his pulsing head through her soaking folds. She shivered, raking her nails into his chest when he pushed the head of his cock into her cunt. It didn't feel like he had only been inside her just this morning, Ben would never get enough of her, no matter what. Danny met his stroke, widening her hips so she could begin to sink down onto his length. The raven haired man hissed through his teeth, his palms flying to her hips and his fingers digging into her flesh. Danny crushed her lips to his when he was fully inside her, moaning into his mouth as he bucked up into her. "So fucking perfect Kitten." He growled, using his hands to pull Danny off him only to help push her back down. Danny's whole body jerked, the muscles of her thighs were already beginning to cramp but the feeling of Ben's cock inside her pussy made everything else disappear.

Ben smirked, laying down so his head met his pillows and he had a brilliant view of Kitten riding him. "Touch yourself." He groaned, fighting through the loudened moans that strangled his throat. Danny nodded quickly, whining and squealing when she reached her own fingers to play with her clit. Raw electricity ran from her toes to her fingers, her thighs were beginning to spasm and her eyes threatened to roll back in her head. "That's it, such a good girl." Ben bucked his hips up into her, still using his hands on her hips as leverage as she busied herself with rubbing tight sporadic circles around her sensitive bundle of nerves. He could tell she was close, so was he, Ben felt it in the way her velvety soft walls squeezed his dick and the way her chest heaved and legs rocked. He pushed her hand out of the way, using his own fingers to run rapid circles over her clit to send her spiralling over the edge.

It was like the both of them were torn away from the earth's soil, thrown into a floating bliss that never seemed to end. Kitten snapped first, her cunt spasmed and quaked with the shock of her orgasm, it rocked through her core and seared each of her nerves. The clenching of her pussy around his dick only had Ben following right after, his head matched Kitten's, thrown all the way back as they moaned and groaned loudly. Ben growled deeply, his fingers digging harsh marks into the flesh of her waist as he tried to catch his bearings. Danny fell forward, her sweaty chest sticky to Ben's like a sheet of congealed honey. Their breathing was erratic and strained, there was no chance they could exchange any words. Ben didn't need to, his fingers were always drawn to her scalp, he threaded his digits through the soft strands of her hair. They were slightly tacked together from sweat and hairspray, but he didn't let that bother him.

When they both caught their breath, Danny happened to the first to speak. "Your food will be cold." She whispered gently, bringing up her fingersto trace the line of his sharp jaw carefully. Ben looked down at her as she laid against his chest, meeting those beautiful sea-foam eyes he always fell right into. "I can heat it up." He hushed, wanting to savour every moment he had with her pressed to him. "Come on." She smiled, using his chest as leverage to push herself up and off of him. The emptiness she felt each time his cock left her cunt was a feeling that wasn't easily described, it was like a piece of her was missing. Her skin didn't feel warm and her tummy didn't flutter uncontrollably, it was a void that Ben was simply crafted to fill. Ben sat up straight so his eyes could follow her retreating body, she dipped into his walk in and quickly retreated with a shirt and pair of boxers in hand. Her eyes asked a silent question to which Ben quickly nodded, he wanted her to understand that whatever was his, was now hers too. Danny dressed quickly and Ben stood up, pulling his briefs back up his hips as he walked himself to his closet. When he emerged he was wearing a pair of dark sweatpants, but of course his chest was still bare, it always was.

The two of them descended the stairs, rounding the kitchen when Ben spotted the white styrofoam take out box sat careful on his dark marble countertop.

His brows furrowed and Danny craned her neck to meet his expression, he wore one of utter confusion.

It was like he knew what sat in the box without even having to look inside, either that or he could smell the now barely room temperature food. The ashen-blonde neared closer to it first, using her hand to slide the box over the counter towards him. Ben understood the gesture and he stepped forward, peeling the lid back on the frigid box.

Danny couldn't quite read his features, his face was a blank slate. But his eyes told a different story, they were sharp but somehow widened at the same time.

It felt like an eternity before he finally spoke, the gravel-like roughness was still present in his voice.

"How did you- where did you get this?" He asked, his eyes were now pointedly on her, searing her eyes and face for the answers he sought after. "An old friend of yours took me, said it was your favourite growing up." Danny was ever so cautious, she knew he could snap at any point, his emotions were still so edge shot. She kept her voice soft, reaching out her hand to stroke down his bicep. She always did that, no matter what the circumstance, she always felt like she needed to touch him. Wether she traced lines down his chest or caressed his arm, or even played with his hair or held his scar under her plan.

It always calmed the both of them down.

The food sat in the small styrofoam box was indeed a distant memory to him, even when he had lived with his parents in his tender youth he remembered the odd break in the fighting and lashings where he actually enjoyed his existence. His mother would make him pork tenderloin and vegetables, if they were lucky they had mashed potatoes too. Wether his father was there or not, that depended on the day and the amount of alcohol in his system. But young Ben hadn't cared back then, he was simply content with going to bed with a full belly and less bruises.

When he had been old enough to wonder around on his own after a few years with Snoke, he had discovered this one diner in a dingy part of the city. The lights flickered and the place smelled like piss, but it was cheap and it was convenient back then.

He was going by his new name by that point, he wondered through the smudged glass doors and found himself upon a metaphorical pot of gold.

The kind waitress had taken one look at him with a sad smile, a tall lanky teenage boy with unruly dark hair and moles that could be connected with a line of pen. She smiled softly at him and hurried straight to the back where Kylo could hear the clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen. When the woman returned, she carried a plate that was stacked high with meat, vegetables and potatoes. The food was smothered in gravy and carried on a wide plastic tray.

Kylo carried on coming back from that day forward, as the years ticked by he changed, he began to grow into a young man. His shoulders filled out and his height grew significantly, he started to take care of himself. The man's shirts became too tight and his face grew sharper and ever more handsome. Kylo quickly took Vicrul under his wing when he was bought into the programme, the First Order had taken Vic in and treated him as one of their own, but he quickly learnt that Snoke wasn't all as he was made out to be. When the boys needed a break, Kylo bought them here, to a dark part of town where they could escape even if it was just for an hour.

As they grew older, the need for such devious antics subsided, they had bigger fish to fry.

He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten from there, it must have been years and years ago. He was surprised Vicrul even remembered the place existed, too much got lost in translation back then.

Ben didn't know what worried him more, the fact that Kitten had been to the shitiest district in the city, or the fact she had been in the same vicinity as Vicrul. The two men hadn't had contact for weeks, he could have had any motivation to seek Kitten out, Ben only wished his intentions weren't sour.

Or he would have to do something about it.

"I never even asked you how the meeting went."

Ben's chest felt tired, he'd slept in with Danny till it had been time for her to leave. His body had been so warm and contented for the first time in years even after she was gone, he promised himself only another hour or two. But he'd slept right through into the evening until Kitten had returned home, in his sleep and lust driven daze, he'd neglected to even ask her how her meeting with the art director went.

"We can talk about it another time, it went perfectly." She told him sincerely, she was dubious about sharing her next words, but she did anyway.

"Vicrul made sure of that." She added gently, hoping that he didn't take it the wrong way or grow angry.

"Vic? I don't understand." His tone didn't change much, but Danny saw the way his shoulders tensed and his chest expanded deeply. Ben abandoned the container of food, moving closer to Danny as she leant against the counter. "I'm not sure I do either, he showed up out of the blue." Danny chuckled to herself, she had been so nervous and worried when she met eyes with Vicrul earlier in the evening. It turns out she had nothing to be worried about.

"Did he touch you?" Ben's words came quick, snapping like an elastic band from his lips. Danny furrowed her brow and pressed her palm to his chest, shaking her head gently. "No no, nothing like that. I would be a lot worse off in this contract if he hadn't have helped me out, he didn't try anything."

Ben's entire posture relaxed and so did his features, Danny closed her eyes when Ben brushed her hair behind her ear; letting his fingers comb through the silky strands. It might have been bold of her, but her next actions came quick, she stood on her very tiptoes; pressing her palm to the side of Ben's neck and catching his lips in a kiss. The man melted to her instantly, pressing his lips to hers to deepen the kiss.

Again the world around them ceased to exist when they were caught in eachother, when their anatomies joined - nothing else mattered but them. Jake didn't exist, The First Order didn't exist; even Vicrul didn't.

It was simply just the two of them orbiting one another, so chemically drawn to each that nothing could tear them apart. Ben and Danny shared one thing in particular, the little four letter 'L' word that held so much weight didn't register to them. They of course knew that they held strong emotions for one another, that was plain as day, but neither of them had enough experience or confidence within themselves to start a conversation about labels.

Ben knew there was nobody else for her, and Danny knew that Ben was the same. It was just them.

"You look tired." Ben whispered the words against Danny's lips, caressing her hip through his borrowed shirt. Danny nodded, "I am but I've slept all day, I can stay up while you eat." He pressed a kiss of approval to her lips for that, humming against her lips to savour the taste. "Okay, sit down I'll only be a minute." Ben pulled away, pressing his wide palm to the lower of her back to push her off in the direction of his living room. She didn't argue with him, she craned her neck to the side to peck at his chest, trudging her tired limbs over to his couch when his touch finally left her back. "Danny?" He called after her, his voice somewhat nervous. Though they were rooms apart, Danny had never felt such intimate warmth. She hummed at the call of her name, gesturing for him to continue.

"I think I'm ready to talk now."

____________________________________

I'm loving that I can get back to writing these long chapters for you guys 🥺 but please excuse any edits that need to be made for this chapter, I was too excited to publish it!

Holiday is going great but I have to go home tomorrow which makes me vv sad, I just wanted to thank you guys for all the love and support over the last few days in particular. We've reached 16k! I actually can't believe it really, I just want you guys to know that I see every one of your comments and lovey gestures! <3

Face reveal is up on my TikTok if anyone care?!

It's @kylokrumbs <3

Also I thought I'd add some pics of my holiday here....maybe some foreshadowing....


	16. 𝙸𝙽 𝚈𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝙵𝙰𝙸𝚃𝙷

[ 𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙶𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝟽𝙺 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳𝚂 𝙼𝙰𝚁𝙺𝙴𝚁, 𝙸 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙿𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙴 𝙰 '*' 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝙽𝙴𝙴𝙳𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙶𝚄𝚈𝚂 𝙰𝙶𝙰𝙸𝙽.]

A solid month had passed and the butter-kissed summer was drawing to a close, the darkened twilight nights began to draw in and the days grew shorter and shorter. The wind whistled in the evenings and shifted a chilly breeze that settled in the air and kissed exposed ears and noses cold.

Things had been languid at home. But out past the threshold of Ben and Danny's doors respectively their lives were an utter whirlwind, Ben had to upkeep his image with Hux and The First Order. Going by Kylo in the day and Ben during the night was strange at first, but after the first few weeks he began to adjust to it. He told Danny that she wasn't to call him Ben in front of anyone, not even Vicrul, she had nodded at him and kissed his cheek in reassurance. Hux wasn't so suspicious as he usually was, Ben left that down to Vicrul, the German just kept buttering Armitage up. When he grew frustrated or vexed, Vic was there to take the pain away. Ben didn't want to think too much into the details of the specifics. Ben found it easy to hold himself up when he worked, the reassuring knowledge that Kitten would be waiting in bed for him or cooking the two of them dinner when he got home was a welcomed comfort.

They spent as much time as they could together, but their lives still remained busy despite their admitted feelings towards each other. Danny spent her time nowadays between her art studio and Hackthorn's office, with time at her own grubby apartment and Ben's lavish home mixed in between. More often then not she would bring her work home, wether it was her sketchbook or her paperwork, she was always home before Ben was. She'd brew herself a cup of twist-fruit tea and perch herself on his couch or sprawl herself out over his plush living room rug. She would hear his car roll into the driveway and she could never help the smile that tugged at her lips, by the time he opened the front door his tie was already loosened and his eyes hungry. Somehow in their crossing schedules, sex was something they were always able to make time for, it didn't matter where or when. On the kitchen counter, in the shower, in Ben's car, in Danny's apartment. Ben and Kylo shared multiple similarities, but the incurable hunger for sex was the biggest one. It never mattered what the time was or where they found themselves, if Ben wanted her, he took her. But Danny had no complaints, on more occasions then one, it had been her to instigate their antics.

Danny found it hard to adjust at first. Everything was fitting into place, and part of her didn't like it. It was as if someone was going to eventually whip the rug out from underneath her, she'd be left cold and alone with nothing but distant memories to console her in the dead of night. She slept as close to him as she possibly could, her skin had to be pressed to his in one way or another. Just to remind herself that he was real, she laid awake at night wondering when the penny would drop for Ben. Thinking of all the ways he could up and leave her, she knew he didn't even need an excuse. He could simply just have her walk out of his life without even wishing her to look back. Those thoughts were poisonous, Danny knew that, but it didn't stop them from stabbing at her mind when she found herself awake while Ben slept soundly beside her.

There were still days where he was distant, that was just his structure, despite the warmth that started to radiate off him, Danny figured he would always be slightly broken. Like a ceramic tea cup with a chip in the delicate china, it was still functional, just slightly and barely damaged. His coldness still seeped through the new mask he wore, Vicrul had dropped by the house a few times while Danny was there and proved Ben's short temper still remained. The two of them spoke nothing of business but Vic purely came just to annoy Ben for the sake of it, his excuse for stopping by was the same each time, ' I was just passing.'

Vic would make a point to shower Kitten with attention in front of Ben, wether it was snatching her sketchbook from her fingers to flip through the pages and adorn her with praises or get as close to her as he possibly and physically could. He did it all.

The raven haired man would growl deeply in his chest, the first time Vic had woven his fingers through Danny's hair, Ben saw red. At the time, Ben was in the kitchen, the first thing he grabbed happened to be a tall cylinder glass. He launched it across the room, it had all happened so quickly that he never thought over the fact that he could have hit Danny. Ben didn't know wether he was thankful or pissed off when Vicrul caught the glass, the German wore the smuggest look on his face. Kitten however, was complexly and utterly unimpressed.

She had given him the satisfaction of waiting till Vic had left to scold him like a toddler, she took herself right to bed without another word to him. He followed her closely but she didn't let up, only when he snatched her wrist and pinned her up against the wall in the hallway did she fall into him. No matter how pissed off or angry she was with him, his lips against her throat always turned her mind to mush. When his hands caressed her rib cage or yanked her thigh to rest against his hip, everything else fell away.

He made a slight habit of that. Always able to distract her from whatever plagued her brain with his lips and tongue. She never fought it either, it was a welcomed get away from her work or stresses. Some days, it was the other way around. On days when Ben returned home with a tight coil of tension woven through the muscles of his shoulders and ticking jaw, Danny would be there to kiss him till he forgot.

Although time had passed, Danny's mind constantly replayed one night in particular on repeat. The night of her first official meeting with Hackthorn, the one in which Vicrul had gate-crashed very much un-welcomed.

Danny remembered every detail of that night, it may have only been barely a month. But still, she didn't will herself to forget it anytime soon.

She had sat herself on his plush couch with her knees tucked to her chest while Ben sat across from her, she watched him intently as he polished off his meal of pork and potatoes. She'd even taken him up on his offer when he gifted her a bite, it was delicious. He pulled the fork from her mouth and set it atop his now empty plate, he placed them on the glass coffee table which was sat just in front of his couches. Danny had chewed nervously on her lip, fiddling with her fingers as the two of them sat in a silence that blanketed heavily over the room.

Ben's voice was the first to break the tangible quietness. "I've done too much wrong by you, I'm still not sure how or why you're here. I'm just glad that you are, and I hope you can forgive me."

Little did Danny know that it had taken him the longest of times to conjure up those few simple words, he had always been a man of actions rather then worded confessions. Never in his life had he ever had to admit such things to another living being. It felt foreign and sordid. Like it shouldn't have been happening at all, but he needed to push the words upwards from his chest. They had sat there so heavily for so long. The man hadn't gone into specifics, the two of them might have been sat there for hours if he had. Countless times had he belittled her, slapped her, punished her and screamed at her. He had laid his hands on her in a way that was unforgivable, the bruises that were still yet to fade entirely were evidence of that. Yes he had looked out for her in-between that, he'd fucking killed a man for her. That alone was enough to prove what she meant to him, he wouldn't put his neck on the line with a charge that wasn't his just for anyone.

He felt horrid for drugging Danny. Not once but twice, both times it had been because he was a coward. The first time was for his own selfishness to keep her warmth lingering just those few hours longer, the second time; well, he'd done that because he was scared. Terrified of the inevitable.

He was truly fucking terrified of what would happen to her if she did tell anyone what she saw, the word would spread quickly. To Kuruk, to Cardo, to Trudgen, to Ap'lek. And most importantly, to Ushar.

Ben wasn't at all threatened by the first four. It was Ushar he was worried about, the man had gone rouge years ago. He had practically disappeared off the face of the earth and was impeccably talented atleaving little to no trace of his existence anywhere.

Ben knew that if Ushar caught wind of Kitten's potential confessions, he would seek her out till he found and destroyed her. He was ruthless. He wouldn't care that she was a young women, simply vulnerable and scared. That wouldn't register to him. For years he had been forced to live in Kylo's shadow, and for years he had been desperately attempting to claim validation from Snoke. He held Kylo completely accountable for his failures, he blamed everyone around him and eventually his own delusions pulled him under the tide. He had left before Snoke died, but the group of young men were told not to associate with it. Threats of what would happen to them if they dared to go after their brother kept them all in check, Ushar had come from a troubled past like the rest of them had. But he held something deeper in his chest, a deep-dark festering pit that swallowed him whole. When it came down to it, he almost matched Kylo. His cut throat approach to his trade had earned him a name in the world of hitmen and assassins. 'Black Lion' was the name he was given, it was practically a disrespect to his country of origin. The place he was born and raised till Snoke found him, lions in Japan represented strength and protection for places of sacred worship. Ushar was anything but protecting or sacred, he was twisted and mean spirited with a soul as black as coal and burnt ash. He would turn on his own brothers if it meant he would save his own skin, that was what separated the group. Even Kylo himself would put his own life on the line rather then see his brothers hurt, they had grown up together, fought together; fought each other. Yet that still wasn't enough to crack through and leak an ounce of sentiment into Ushar's cavity like chest.

That's why Ben worried about Kitten's safety, because if he really thought about it, Ushar might have been just as unhinged as him, if not more.

"I can't lie to you and tell you that you're forgiven, some of the things you've done will stay with me forever. But I also know that in time, I will forgive you, you've done so much for me in such little time. And for that, I owe you my life."

Danny's words stabbed at Ben's chest, but in the best way possible. He didn't expect to be forgiven so soon, he didn't expect her to forget all of his wrong doings. He simply wished that the two of them could grow from this, together. The last five words of her speech struck Ben even deeper, had she meant that if they hadn't have crossed paths, she would no longer be here? If Jake had gone through with his intentions for her, would she have been unable to live with the pain and turmoil of his actions?

Ben didn't dare to think too much about it, Jake was dead and yet he still managed to anger him. 

"I don't need you to forgive me now, I just need to know that you will, that's enough for me. As for your debt, you don't owe me anything." Ben's hand reached for her, brushing over her cheek with the backs of his fingers. He went to move his hand but Danny kept it there, holding one of her palms over his hand to keep it against her cheek while the other caressed his wrist. She couldn't help it when stray tears began to well in her eyes, the two of them had come so far and yet, they had so far to go. "You've given me far more then I deserve Ben, far more." The tears fell now, running down her cheek and over Ben's fingers. The man shushed her cries, weaving his arm around her waist and pulling her to sit in his lap. The fabric of his shirt she wore rasped against his bare chest, her chest didn't cease with it's hiccups even after he buried her face into the crook of his neck. He held her there for some time, the minutes could have been hours, Ben didn't know exactly.

His eyes found her face when he felt the weight of her limbs slump lifelessly against him. In the warm caress of his arms and chest, she'd fallen asleep.

Ben's little nickname suited her down to the ground, often she would do this. Curl up and sleep like a timid kitten in a warm lap. It was one of the many things about her that made Ben's chest swell.

"You saved me from myself Kitten, it should be me thanking you." He whispered his words to her, as if she could really hear him in her slumbered state. He pressed a kiss to her temple closest to him, squeezing her tightly as he shuffled her against his frame so he could stand without risk of sending them both hurtling to the ground.

Ben carried her up the stairs that night with the knowledge that she was his, and that he was hers, all by her own choice. She wanted to stick by him despite the god awful things he had done while she'd known him, not to mention what he had done in his past. Danny wanted to co-exist with him, she wanted to share in his pain and praise. She was willing to love a man that once believed he was incapable of feeling and gifting such a feeble thing.

Just neither of them fully knew it was love yet.

That night he kept her close to his chest, weaving his fingers through her hair and pressing meaningful kisses to her scalp. She was out for the count, but Ben was wide awake. He kept replaying the last few months on repeat in his head, wondering where he had gone right. For so long he felt so empty, and now he was so full of emotions he felt like his chest was going to burst. The worries still lingered but he was able to push them down for longer periods of time, now he could pretend they didn't exist for a short while rather then them sprouting up to bite him in the ass.

That bought them to now. Curled into one another on Ben's couch with a cliché horror flick playing in the background while neither of them payed any attention to it. Kitten had been paying attention, key word being 'had', but Ben was bored and feeling needy. It started off small at first, he palmed at her thighs through her pyjama bottoms, running his hands up and down her legs to elicit shivers from her bones despite the roaring flames burning in the fireplace below the television. As the minutes passed by, he grew impatient, he yanked her by the hips and pulled her to straddle his lap. Immediately Danny felt his excitement through his sweatpants, she trapped a gasp in her throat, whining slightly when Ben's hot breath fanned her throat. His fingers ran up her arms, tracing over her shoulders and gliding down the dip of her spine.

"So cold Kitten, how about I warm you up? Hmm, would you like that?" His voice was raspy and low in her ear, his hot exhales caressing her cheek with the slight sent of whiskey on his breath. She nodded giddily with her eyes screwed shut, she took her lip between her teeth to try and silence her moans of approval. His lips were on her now, fluttering over her collar bones and throat as he teased her.

"I want to hear you say it." He whispered, hooking his thumbs into the straps of her vest and pulling them down her arms to expose her chest. Danny's nipples pebbled feverishly from the cold air, the fires embers were licking at her spine rather then her front, causing a shiver to run through her frame.

"Don't be shy now Kitten." Ben kissed the valley between her breasts, nearing so dangerously close to exactly where she wanted him, but he stayed firm.

Danny's fingers threaded through the velvet strands of black hair at the back of his head, her hips bucking into him as he blew air over her chest.

"Please." She heaved breathily, pushing herself as close to him as she could. Ben's eyes darkened, that beautiful little plea had fed liquid need straight through into his bloodstream, pumping straight to his hardened cock. "Please what?" He rasped, pushing his hands down her spine to cup the curve of her ass. "Please Ben - fuck." She gasped when he finally took her breast into his mouth, he bit down lightly around her nipple, causing her to arch her spine even further into him. He gifted her other mound the same treatment, leaving purple-pink welts in his wake. Danny threw her head back as she moaned, her fingers fisting his hair and her nails biting into his scalp. Ben withdrew with a wet smack of his lips, the path of his mouth was blatantly obvious from the trail of hickeys smattered across Danny's chest. Her lungs were heaving already and the back of her neck was sheened with perspiration, her nerve endings were on high alert, sparking electricity with each touch. Ben's fingers found her chin and jaw, levelling her face so her eyes were looking deeply into his. He pressed his mouth to hers, she hummed at the familiar taste of his lips, whiskey and cigarettes. Ben slipped his tongue past her teeth, letting it stroke and tangle with her own.

She gasped into his mouth when his thumbs brushed over her nipples, the rest of his fingers squeezing over her tits harshly. "Hold on tight." He smirked, Danny squealed with his quick movements, in an instant she was on her back, spread like softened butter on toast over the couch. Her vest was still pooled around her middle haphazardly, but Ben didn't pay attention to that. His attention was focussed on her pyjama bottoms, he looped his fingers through the elastic waistband and tugged hard. The fabric rasped over her skin but she still lifted her ass to allow him to pull the garment all the way off, it was thrown to the floor in no time to be forgotten.

Ben's shoulders barely fit between Danny's legs without it being an uncomfortable stretch for her thighs, he opted to have her calves rest over his shoulders instead. "So beautiful Kitten." He growled into the flesh of her thigh as he sank his teeth into the delicate pale skin, leaving another hickey for her to wear tomorrow, the next day and the day after that. "Now you be a good girl and stay still for me." His chest rattled with his low tone, sending a scorching heat to Danny's already soaked core. She whined his name, gripping the top of his scalp when his face descended between her legs. When his tongue finally lapped at her weeping cunt, it was as if the heavens had opened. The wanton moan that left Danny's throat was music to Ben's ears, it only drove him to plunge his tongue deeper inside of her. Licking the length of her pussy with the feverish hunger of a starved man. Danny's head was pressed against the back of the sofa, one hand gripping Ben's hair while the other grappled for the cushions beneath her. Ben hummed into her cunt, groaning to himself as he savoured every ounce she had to offer for him. "So fucking wet for me Kitten." He rasped, his lips shone with her juices, they stained his chin and seeped onto his tongue. The man towered over her, watching his next move diligently as he pushed his ring and middle finger into her effortlessly. His digits were met with no resistance, the wet sounds that echoed from her core were delicious in Ben's own opinion. Danny mewled, it was the only thing she could do, words were beyond her at this point. The only sounds she provided were her moans and laboured breathing, her heart was beating rapidly and her lungs seared with her efforts.

But everything was ripped away so quickly. The tormenting noise of the front door bell rang loudly through the front hall and echoed around the house, it caused Danny to jump out of her skin. Ben watched her heart leap to her throat and he growled loudly, continuing his actions as he slipped his fingers out of her; only to watch them push back in once again. Kitten tried to squirm away, pulling on his hair to try and get him to stop, but he didn't let up. One hand snatched her wrist, holding it down against the couch as he bared his teeth. Like a dog not willing to give up it's meat, Danny hadn't seen that darkened look in his eyes in a while. The door bell rang out once again, Ben's only insensitive was to press his tongue flat against her clit, still pumping his fingers feverishly as he did so. Danny bit her lip to the point she thought she could taste metal, the pain was nothing compared to the pleasure and potential embarrassment if someone was to walk in. She knew Ben wouldn't care, he could have a crowd and it wouldn't so much as even deter him in the slightest, that's what worried Danny.

The third and final ring of the door bell caused Ben to snap, another growl rumbled from his chest. His fingers and mouth left Danny's cunt feeling empty and cold, he stood abruptly and stormed right over towards the door. He left Danny barely anytime to get her self straightened out, she leapt from her position and stepped into her pyjama bottoms, yanking up the waistband quickly. She was just settling the last strap of her vest over her shoulder when Ben stepped back into the front room, having been concealed by the front door way. Only; he wasn't alone. Following a length behind him was a tall and slender man, his fiery red hair and pinched features wouldn't have him be considered conventionally attractive, but he was far from an ugly looking man. He stood barely an inch lower then Ben, but was of a much lighter build. His mannerisms showed high standards and no doubt pompous upbringing just from how he walked in and surveyed his surroundings, he payed Danny little attention, not letting his eyes rest on her for more then a few seconds. "What is so important that it couldn't wait till tomorrow Armitage?" Ben spat as he rested against one of the couch arms, Danny sat behind him, feeling less exposed as she stayed partly hidden behind his body. She couldn't help but feel slightly underwhelmed, she'd heard whispers of the man named Armitage Hux, she saw how Vicrul's eyes widened just the slightest millimetre when the name was mentioned. Ben had summarised the relationship between the two of them pretty bluntly when she had first inquired, 'boredom boning' was the exact phrase he had used to describe it. But Danny couldn't help but see straight through Vicrul's playboy demeanour, he was much like Ben in a few ways, he was broken too. In ways she perhaps may never know, but she knew that his feelings towards Hux went far beyond just being bored and horny.

"If I had the knowledge that you would not be alone then I would have ceased interrupting." The man's tone was completely unbothered and monotone, even unresponsive to Ben's harsher tone. When his sentence drew to a close, only then did Hux let his eyes fall on Danny, as if he could smell the sexual tension hanging in the air. Knowing what the two had been up to even while he stood ringing the door bell of Ben's home at the late hour it was.

"You seem to think I have become a mind reader overnight Armitage. This is the last time I will ask, why are you here?" Ben's shoulders shifted slightly, as if ready to pounce if the moment called for it.

It was clear that Hux knew this fact, he shifted awkwardly on his feet, wetting his lips before he finally spoke. "I feel it is most inappropriate for us to continue this conversation here." His eyes switched from Ben's to Danny's quickly, what he meant to say was 'we shouldn't have this conversation in front of the girl' but it appeared he valued his life enough to avoid those cold words.

Ben's chest swelled, only to deflate again as he let out a long and defeated sigh, it was one of understanding. He craned his neck to look at Danny, her eyes still fixed on Hux before she felt Ben's blazing gaze on her skin. She looked up at him, her eyes told Ben everything he needed to know, but Hux was indeed right. It was most inappropriate to have this conversation with her here.

Ben moved smoothly. Before Danny could even blink he was in front of her, his fingers clasped her chin and she was trapped in his intense stare. "How about you go run yourself a bath, hmm? I'll be up in a minute." Danny could do nothing but nod her head at him, she felt like she was in a trance, whatever Ben wished; she would oblige. Ben's fingers fell from her chin to grip her thigh reassuringly, gifting it a swift squeeze before he let her stand. Before she could breeze past him, his lips traced her ear.

"Good girl." He brushed his fingers down her bare arm as she stepped past him, causing a shiver to run throughout her nerves. She slipped off up the stairs, to heed Ben's words but to also hide the embarrassed flush that over took her face.

Ben listened carefully. It might have only been a couple of months since his last contract, but his senses were always pin-prick sharp. He could hear every step she took, he knew exactly where she was from the sound of the floorboards overhead. He knew she was exactly where he told her to go, obedience was just in Danny's code. She had no reason to question or disobey Ben, not unless he gave her a reason to. The man had craftily stuffed both of his big- deft hands into the pockets of his sweats, hiding the raging constraint of his hard cock beneath the fabric. He didn't give a shit if Hux caught on to what he and Danny had been doing, it was more of a muscle memory thing. Like your parents catching you watching porn as a pre-teen, only it hadn't been his parents. It had been one of his brothers or even worse; Snoke himself.

"Spit it out." Ben was beyond bored of the ginger's presence, he practically lived in his office, he only ever ventured out when it was needed. Perhaps that's why Ben was so on edge, why he could feel his blood spike and the hairs on his arms stand on end.

He watched as Armitage chose his words, he could see him rinse them around his mouth and pick them apart with his tongue. He was never scared of any of the men he worked with, despite the six other brothers being muscled killers with enough bloodlust to match a great white, he never backed down from them or cowered away. He had a way of holding himself, his sharp tongue and flamboyant upbringing had ensured they knew he wasn't to be threatened. He and Kylo had never seen eye to eye, Armitage had been late to the party. While most of the other boys had known each other since their pre-teen years took hold, Hux had joined the first order when he was just turning eighteen years old. He had missed out on all of the late night pranks and gruelling early morning runs to the next town over and back. Hux arrived with a target on his back, the boys might have been blossoming into young men but they were still territorial, it was clear from the first look that Armitage would never be cut out for the field.

Snoke didn't give an explanation to his madness, but Armitage was simply grateful to still be alive.

With his wealthy parents dead and buried in England after suffering mysterious deaths he feared he would be next, somewhat conveniently however, Snoke was there ready and waiting for him with a shoulder to cry on.

The rest was history. Snoke took Hux straight to work on the books while the other boys continued to be exposed to gruelling physical exertion and mental torture. Maybe that's why they resented Hux so much, the other boys were more or less too dense to understand, but Kylo knew that working practically under Snoke's wing didn't make Hux the favourite. He'd seen his cracked teeth and black eyes even when he hid it from the others, Kylo knew deep down that Snoke was incapable of such favouritism.

No one and nothing was held in the man's heart, because he didn't own one.

"It's Vicrul." Hux pushed the words from behind his teeth, the leather gloves encasing his long - slender fingers stretched as he flexed his hands in a nervous fashion, waiting for Ben's response.

Ben's posture ran a little straighter, his eyes sharpening and his chest growing. "He's dead?"

The emotion wasn't held in his voice but it stung the back of his eyes, his throat constricting painfully.

The ginger's eyebrows furrowed, a scoff blowing past his lips quickly. "Don't be absurd." Hux waved his hand dismissively, despite him being the guest in someone else's home. "Then what could be so important that it couldn't wait?" Ben's teeth were bared as his lip snarled back, his patience was paper thin. "It's with regards to his uncle, it appears he isn't dead after all." Armitage looked back over his shoulder, his and Ben's eyes met, both of them sharing the same look of shock and anger.

"What?" Ben's voice was growing louder, he wasn't asking Hux to repeat himself, he was just in sheer disbelief to what he had heard. "These were sent to his home this morning, only in the last hour or so has he shared them with me." Hux plucked two pictures from the inside pocket of his long tan-coloured trench coat, offering them to Ben as he clutched them between leather clad fingers. The raven haired man snatched them from Hux, his eyes scanning over them quickly over and over again. The pictures couldn't lie, the blurred security cam caps were still enough evidence to prove that Vicrul's tormented relative still lived. He was still on his home soil by the looks of it, from the date and place printed in German on the bottom left corner it was clear. "Where is Vic now?" Ben spoke but he continued to thumb between the two pictures, as if he would catch a glimpse of anything that would tell him they were doctored or fake. "Understandably, he was hysterical. I slipped something into his whiskey and he's completely out of it. He's useless in that state." Hux let the words fall from his lips so easily, it almost surprised Ben, almost. He realised just how little he knew about Armitage despite knowing him the last ten years. Ben was a few years older, but he couldn't help but feel that Hux was far more mature. He had lived a standard and normal childhood, only when he was on the brink of adulthood was his entire world turned upside down. Ben didn't know which was better, he didn't care enough to think about it.

"He's going to be pissed when he wakes up." Ben's tone was slightly more even now, he gifted the pictures back to Hux, the ginger placed them back into his pocket neatly. "I'm aware but I'm also unbothered." Hux scoffed, he knew that Vicrul would no doubt be angry, but he was still in Hux's debt after kissing Kitten, so he would have to behave. Ben didn't quite know what to say or where to go from here, he had almost completely forgotten that they all had lives before the First Order. It seemed strange to think that Vicrul still had a blood relative living.

Armitage broke the silence. "He wishes to go to Germany, but he wishes to go alone." There was almost a solemn sadness in the man's tone of voice. Immediately Ben saw red. "Not fucking happening."

The raven haired killer moved to pace the length of his living room, switching to run his fingers through his hair or scratch harshly at his neck. "I deduced that already, with or without your input."

Ben's pacing stopped altogether. "Then why are you here?" He asked with a sharp tone. The two of them were a considerable length apart, it was almost poetic, symbolising just how much distance ran between them in a number of ways. The only ties they had to each other were the First Order and Vicrul. Even then they still couldn't be pleasant with one another. "I'd like to know who sent the pictures to him in the first place. It's clearly an individual that knows of his past complications with his Uncle, someone with inside access to such resources and information." Ben knew exactly what Hux was getting at, when he thought about it, all the evidence was blatantly obvious. All of it pointing to one man. 

"Ushar." The name whispered past Ben's lips, it didn't sadden him or surprise him that it could be one of his own brothers twisting the knife that was already imbedded so deep within Vicrul's back.

"I'm glad we're on the same page. I've heard nothing and seen no movement since he trashed my office, it can only be him." Hux was adamant of his words, it was as if he was as trying to convince Ben to agree with him despite him already doing so. Hux and ushar had a particularly rocky relationship with one another, Kenjiro had always been more brain then brawn, he found it hard to adjust when Armitage took such an achievement from him. Snoke had began teaching Kenjiro some of the basics of the inner workings, but he soon found more talent with Armitage. This sparked a hatred within a young Ushar, he made it his mission to make Hux's life a living misery. If it wasn't Snoke beating the everliving shit out of him, it was Kenjiro. Armitage never snitched, he knew better then that, he also knew that doing so would only make things worse. He never fought back or cried for help, his pride wouldn't allow him to do such things, he thought about what his father would think. That's the only thing that had kept him going in his younger days, despite being a young man he still never raised a hand to his comrade. He didn't have it in him.

"Leave it with me." Ben's bare back was facing Armitage now, the new information was still spiking his blood. If he conversed on it anymore, he was sure he would be seeking out blood sooner then he thought. Ben moved to begin climbing the stairs, there was one thing he knew would calm him down for sure. He could already see her in his head. Hair piled messily atop her head with damp wisps of it kissing at the back of her neck, she'd be up to her shoulders in suds and bubbles while she waited to hear Ben's footsteps drawing nearer.

"She's till here then." Armitage spoke swiftly, not letting his voice be drowned by the cold and icy waters that Ben's glare threatened to pour over him.

The raven haired man had to grit his teeth, his large fingers digging into the wooden banister that ran up the stairs. "What?" He queried lowly, most of his body was out of Hux's view, but he could see the ginger clearly. His frame was as tight as a coiled steel spring, the man was on edge but if wasn't from the eminent threat of Ben strangling him, it was clear he was worried for Vicrul. "The last we spoke on the subject, Ren, I recall you telling me that the girl would no longer be a burden." Hux wasn't facing Ben now, his eyes scanned over the contents of the crystal glass coffee table instead. Sat upon it were the clear indications that Kitten wasn't simply visiting. Her sketchbook and a few pencils were laid out neatly, a mug of half drunken tea sat steeping on the corner edge; such things as even the smell of her lingered in the air. A gentle scent of lavender and peppermint bled through the air around him, no doubt a perfume of Kylo's choosing he thought. The fact he was buying her gifts and letting her bring belongings into his home told Armitage more then he needed to know.

"I don't see how that has anything to do with you, or with what we're trying to achieve." Ben was trying to remain calm, he had Danny upstairs to think about.

"Because Kenjiro could have planted a seed within her already, have you even asked her if she's seen him? Does she know about you, about all of us?" Armitage was probably unaware of how deep his words cut through Ben, it was painful for the fact that Ben hadn't thought about that one simple fact. For sure he'd had a hunch but he'd neglected to even ask her, it was naive of him to assume that all was well. The man had been so caught up with Kitten that he wasn't protecting her in the long run, and now Vicrul's neck was on the line too.

"Get out." His voice was low, but Hux got the message. With a loud scoff he drifted off towards the door, he moved like a phantom in the night. Cold and transparent. "If you truly cared for the girl Ren, you wouldn't be so blind as to not see the danger you're putting her in. It won't have been Ushar that ended her life, it will have been you." Armitage didn't shout or make a point to slam the door behind him, he left with grace and decorum, he knew his words would have settled something foul in Ben's gut. It would upheave a whole new wave of self doubt and destructive anger, Ben willed himself to push the words down. But they were already beginning to stir in his chest, he could feel them festering and brewing and boiling down to a thick, viscous, black liquid that would soon bubble up through to his throat and suffocate him.

Living with Kitten at arms length had been painful enough, Ben couldn't imagine what his life was like ensue with her buried six-feet under. The thought made bile rise to his throat, threatening to strangle him. He stood there for a while longer. His fingers still gripping the stairwell banister as he tried to even out his heaving chest, it could have been five minutes, but it could very well have been five hours.

Kitten was just as he expected to find her. Up to her neck in soft bubbles as the water lapped and sloshed at the sides of the bath from her movements. She hadn't seen him right away, or heard him for that matter. It didn't seem she would ever grow accustomed to the silent stalking of the man she coexisted with, he snuck up on her often, but it wasn't always intentional. He stood in the doorway with his shoulder leaning against the frame of it, watching her trace her delicate fingertips across the surface of the sudsy water and swirl patterns into the soap. From the angle she was facing, he could see the back of her neck and the messy pile of ashen blonde hair sat on the top of her head, she was somewhat laying down. The tub was so big that when she tried to rest the small of her back against the bottom of it, almost her entire nose was engulfed under the water. It wasn't often she bathed without Ben balancing her atop his lap, he was the one that kept her head from slipping under. Danny didn't jump too badly when she craned her neck to find him standing there, her face softened further, from the pinch of his forehead and the way he bit the inside of his cheek she could tell that whatever words the two men had exchanged hadn't been the best. She silently beckoned him forwards with her eyes, she watched him hesitate, but she didn't know why he had. Ben pushed himself from the edge of the door, his bare feet plodding against the tiles as he made his way across the bathroom, guilt was taking hold; he could barely look her in the eye.

Danny thought he might join her, strip to his bare skin and settle against the back of the tub behind her, have her back flush to his chest as they were both kissed by the warm encompass of the water and each other's company; like he usually would. Instead Ben settled on his knees, leering close to the edge of the tub and mimicking Danny's movements from before. He skimmed his fingers over the water silently, not breathing a word to Danny or even himself. Her brows furrowed in confusion, what had changed so quickly, his mood wasn't of anger or hatred, it was something else entirely. She moved gently, moving her fingers under the water till they breached the surface to link carefully with Ben's. He didn't move his hand away, but he didn't squeeze her hand back either. He was limp in her grasp, like his body was here but his mind was in a galaxy far away.

"Everything okay?" Danny whispered gently, she moved closer to the edge of the tub, looking up into his eyes even though he chose to avoid her gaze. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding when he hummed, it wasn't much but it was better then silence. She couldn't have it. Danny hated it when he went quiet like this, she could practically hear the cogs turning in his mind, the wheels of his sanity slowly coming unhinged from the constant wear and tear. Danny grasped the side of the bath with her free hand, pulling herself up so that her chest rose from the water and she was able to reach Ben's lips. The kiss set a spark within Ben, like a damp match finally striking a flame. He closed his eyes indefinitely, pressing his lips back into hers and catching her where she sat. His spare hand found the back of her head, ensuring her lips stayed dancing with his for as long as they could. Danny's fingers that weren't interlaced with Ben's found his jaw, cradling his cheek under her dripping palm.

Ben could taste the gentle note of oat-milk soap on her lips, his tongue pressed into her teeth, looking to deepen the kiss. She welcomed him, Danny could never fight him. She would never even try either, she sought him out just as much as he did her.

*

Ben arose from his knees but Danny followed him, she stopped his hands when they flew to his waistband, she gripped his hands tightly. "Please Ben, please just talk to me." Her head was cowered down, she knew if she looked up that he wouldn't look her in the eye anyway. Ben's hand was at her cheek, forcing her to look up at him, so she did.

He didn't let her take in the details of his face for too long, his lips were on hers again, rougher this time.

Danny had neglected to acknowledge it before, or at least she just never thought too much into it, but Ben spoke with his actions rather then his words. She didn't push him away when his hand yanked her roughly by the waist, he'd pulled her right out of the bath and into his chest, all the while he never let her lips leave his. The floor was slippery and the cold air pebbled Danny's nipples, but Ben held her close, walking her backwards till her body was pressed against the rough-coarseness of familiar tiles. The jets of water began to spray from all angles before Danny could even react to them, for the briefest of moments, she was allowed to breathe. Ben discarded of his sweats and briefs quickly, latching his body to hers once again. He'd pushed her into his shower, steam began to rise and shroud the two of them in boiling vapour. Ben's shower was a modern one, three separate jets sprayed tempered water from up, left and right. The marble tiling corresponded to the marble slabbed floor but was rougher in texture, it scraped at Danny's back as Ben hoisted her up, resting her thighs around his hips and holding her tight against him. His teeth threatened her neck when he plunged himself deep into her cunt, his cock searing through Danny's unprepared core burnt more then the boiling water raining down on them. It hurt to the point she felt nothing but the pain, she didn't feel Ben's lips lapping at her neck or his hands caressing the flesh covering her ribs. It felt like he was spearing her open, robbing her lungs dry while all she could do was take it. She clawed at his shoulders, trying to attract his attention, Danny watched as the water slurping down the drain was crimson. She didn't dare guess wether it was Ben's blood or hers, the boiling surge of his cock dug deep inside of her, plunging deeper and deeper with each sloppy stroke. Danny tried to speak, muttering his name for it only to fall on deaf ears. His brain was paralysed, distracting himself and Danny from the painful truth of what would be.

The pain began to fade after a few more dangerous thrusts of Ben's hips, but it didn't dissipate entirely, it was more of a numb ignorance on Danny's behalf. She was trying her best to push her hips to meet his, but he was erratic, muttering and growling to the point he could hear nothing but the water sloshing over the shell of his ears. He was holding her so close but she had never felt so far away from him, Danny cradled his head in her hands, weaving her arms around his neck to pull him closer into her chest.

This wasn't for the pleasure. This was for the pain. Danny's pain might have been physical in this moment, but Ben's wasn't. He was rotting from the inside out, his brain and mind being torn apart and pieced back together again over and over.

With another growl echoing in his chest Ben threw his weight forward, completely chasing his high only to have it run further from him. Danny lurched back into the tile, the wind was being pounded out of her, the painful throb of his cock striking too deep returning again. This time, she was able to say his name. She must have said it a handful of times, each time he couldn't hear her. It was like his mind had locked itself away completely, away from the light of day. Danny's nails bit into his skin again, raking further down his back as she cried out from the mixing of pain and an ounce of pleasure that bled through the seams of her predicament. With one uttered word whispering past her lips, he snapped back.

"Kylo"

The man immediately responded, ceasing all of his movement entirely. His eyes found hers, despite the onslaught of the showers water he could see clearly that her face was littered with tears, some still yet to fall past her waterline. He broke. In that moment he realised what he already knew, Hux was right. Nothing could end her but him, unintentionally he would be the ultimate demise of her. Because he was too selfish to let her go, in this moment he was too selfish to see to her own needs instead of his. In this moment he truly saw pain in her eyes, both mental and physical. He might have held her close at night and cooked her breakfast in the mornings, but he was blind to see what she truly needed.

He dropped his hold on her, only barely enough so that she didn't fall completely. She clutched his biceps to steady herself but his slick body slipped away from her fingers, the man fell to his knees, his eyes following the red-stained water as it swirled down the plug. He held a sob in his throat, a shudder running through his chest as he looped his arms around the backs of Danny's thighs, pulling her closer as his head rest against her stomach.

The second he felt Danny's fingers weave their way through his scalp he broke down, the man's lip quivered and his chest rattled with broken cries that had been roaring to be set free for years. "I'm sorry."

Ben heaved, burying his face into Danny's skin so she couldn't see the painful twist of his features.

"I'm so sorry." His sobs were set free now, ripping and echoing through the tiles that still battled the rising steam. Danny set herself on her knees in front of him and used her smooth voice to soothe him, she bought herself to his level so she could better console him. She knew this wasn't about what happened just now, Ben's emotions were a snowball, rolling down the hill while gaining weight and momentum, only to crash harder at the end. Danny didn't know exactly how long he'd been keeping these feelings hidden away, she guessed a lot longer then he'd even known her. As painful as it was to watch him suffer like this, she knew that this was the only way for him to get better. He had to accept his feelings, no matter how bad or good, it was the only way he would be free of the pain.

Danny didn't know how long the two of them sat there, holding and gripping each other's skin so hard it could come off the bone. Ben's chest started to even but the onslaught of heavy water torrents against their naked backs never ceased, it shattered against the tiles and glass and littered Danny's lashes, making it harder for her to drink in Ben's features carefully. Maybe that was for the better, he wouldn't feel as though he was under a microscope if she didn't direct all her attention towards him. Her body was there, that was enough for now, he could feel the warmth of her skin and could hear the beating of her life organ as he rested his head upon her chest. "We've got to stop doing this." Ben's voice was rough, more the usual, his throat was ready for him to be speaking. Danny forced his head up with her fingers, stroking over his cheek and scar with her thumbs. "I'm not sure I understand." Danny's lips pressed a gentle kiss to his scarred cheek, the pink-silver wound looked angry and red from the boiling water, resembling Ben's mood. His eyes flashed with something, for the briefest of moments, but Danny couldn't quite recognise what it was. The man pursed his lips, sighing heavily before he removed her hands from his face, bringing them down and running his thumbs over the backs of her hands.

"I don't think I do either."

____________________________________

Please excuse this mess of a chapter! Some parts are long and I understand if things jump a little or aren't very clear yet, it's intentional!

This chapter isn't half as long as I wanted it to be but I feel terrible for keeping you guys waiting, having this published in the mean time will help me settle and continue to write better!😅

Please stick with me here guys, I feel like it's getting pretty repetitive and boring but the story is no where near finished yet! Please stick with me!

Also just wanted to tell you guys that the Halloween special is already 4K plus and I still have to the 31st to add to it😳 I hope you guys are ready, really out of my comfort zone with the kinks and scenes I'm writing but I have a feeling you rats will enjoy ;)

Also just going to place this little preview/teaser for something I've been working on...release date to come soon....

Did someone say Magex Hunter fantasy AU???

As always thank you for 19k that's insane! Thank you for all the votes, comments and support! Ily guys <3

N x


	17. 𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽 𝙵𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚂 (𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝚄𝙿𝙳𝙰𝚃𝙴)

Hey guys!

Sorry this isn't a real update...due to my medical struggles it will still be a few more days before I can get the next chapter out for you guys, I didn't want to rush anything so instead I thought I'd try this out!

I thought it would be fun!

This will just be a cluster of little facts/traits/appearance specifics that are canon to MY imagines of Kylo, Vicrul, Kitten and other key characters.

ENJOY!

𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾 𝚁𝙴𝙽/𝙱𝙴𝙽 𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙾

𝙰𝙶𝙴 : 𝙻𝙰𝚃𝙴 𝚃𝚆𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙸𝙴𝚂/𝙴𝙰𝚁𝙻𝚈 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝚃𝙸𝙴𝚂 (𝙸𝙺 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙶𝚄𝚈𝚂 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝚈𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝙵𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙲𝚂)

𝙷𝙰𝙸𝚁 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚄𝚁 : 𝙱𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙺 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙰 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝚂𝙻𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝚂𝙷𝙸𝙵𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙳𝙰𝚁𝙺 𝙱𝚁𝙾𝚆𝙽

𝙴𝚈𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚄𝚁 : 𝙷𝙰𝚉𝙴𝙻

𝙰𝙿𝙿𝙴𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙴𝚂 : 𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂... 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙴𝙰𝚁𝚂 𝙰 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝚂𝚃 𝙾𝚁𝙳𝙴𝚁 𝚂𝙸𝙶𝙽𝙴𝚃 𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙴𝙰𝚁𝚂 𝙾𝙽 𝙴𝙸𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙴 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝚄𝙼𝙱 𝙾𝚁 𝙸𝙽𝙳𝙴𝚇 𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙼𝙾𝚂𝚃 𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙲𝙺 𝙱𝙰𝙽𝙳𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝙸𝙻𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝙾𝚁 𝙱𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙺 𝙼𝙴𝚃𝙰𝙻. 𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙽𝙾 𝚃𝙰𝚃𝚃𝙾𝙾𝚂. 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚂𝙲𝙰𝚁 𝙸𝚂 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝙵𝙰𝙳𝙴𝙳 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙺𝙴𝙴𝙿 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙷𝙰𝙸𝚁 𝚆𝙰𝚅𝙴𝚈 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝙾 𝙸𝚃 𝙸𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝙰𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙸𝙲𝙰𝙱𝙻𝙴. 𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝙳 𝙰 𝙽𝙾𝚂𝙴 𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝚈𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝚂𝙽𝙾𝙺𝙴 𝚁𝙸𝙿𝙿𝙴𝙳 𝙸𝚃 𝙾𝚄𝚃, 𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙲𝙰𝚁 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃. 𝙿𝙾𝚂𝚃 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝟷𝟼, 𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝚃𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙳𝙾𝙶 𝚃𝙰𝙶 𝙾𝙵𝙵. 𝙽𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁.

𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 : 𝙺𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙽, 𝙼𝙴𝙰𝙻𝚂 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙼𝙴𝙰𝚃, 𝙱𝙸𝙶 𝙳𝙾𝙶𝚂, 𝙰𝚄𝚃𝚄𝙼𝙽 𝚆𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁, 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚈𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙵𝙸𝚃.

𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 : 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻, 𝙵𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚉𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚆𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁, 𝙵𝙾𝙾𝙳𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝚂𝙸𝙲𝙺𝙻𝚈 𝚂𝚆𝙴𝙴𝚃, 𝙲𝙻𝙰𝚄𝚂𝚃𝚁𝙾𝙿𝙷𝙾𝙱𝙸𝙲 𝚂𝙿𝙰𝙲𝙴𝚂, 𝙱𝙴𝙻𝚃𝚂 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙻𝙰𝚁𝙶𝙴 𝙼𝙴𝚃𝙰𝙻 𝙲𝙻𝙰𝚂𝙿𝚂, 𝙻𝙰𝚁𝙶𝙴 𝙼𝙸𝚁𝚁𝙾𝚁𝚂.

𝙵𝚄𝙽 𝙵𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚂 : 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙺𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙽 𝚂𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 𝚂𝙾𝙽𝙶𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙷𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵 𝙷𝙴 𝙼𝙴𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙸𝚉𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙼 𝚄𝙽𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆𝙸𝙽𝙶𝙻𝚈 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙷𝚄𝙼 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙼 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙷𝙴'𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙴. 𝙷𝙴'𝚂 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝙾𝙱𝚂𝙴𝚁𝚅𝙰𝙽𝚃 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝙰𝙻𝚆𝙰𝚈𝚂 𝙼𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝙸𝚃 𝙲𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚂 𝚂𝙾 𝙲𝙻𝙾𝚂𝙴𝙻𝚈 (𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴 𝙺𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙽'𝚂 𝙵𝙰𝚅𝙾𝚄𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙴 𝚃𝙴𝙰). 𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻 𝙸𝚂 𝙱𝙸𝚂𝙴𝚇𝚄𝙰𝙻, 𝙷𝙴 𝙺𝙽𝙴𝚆 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽 𝙱𝙴𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝚅𝙸𝙲 𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙰𝙳𝙼𝙸𝚃 𝙸𝚃 𝙾𝚄𝚃𝙻𝙾𝚄𝙳 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚂𝚄𝙿𝙿𝙾𝚁𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚈 𝚆𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽𝙰𝙶𝙴𝚁𝚂. 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙵𝙰𝚅𝙾𝚄𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙴 𝙺𝙽𝙸𝙵𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝙻𝙴 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙵𝙰𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙴𝙵𝚃 𝙷𝙾𝙼𝙴, 𝙷𝙴 𝙺𝙴𝙴𝙿𝚂 𝙸𝚃 𝙰𝚂 𝙰 𝙶𝙸𝙰𝙽𝚃 '𝙵𝚄𝙲𝙺 𝚈𝙾𝚄' 𝚃𝙾 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙳𝙰𝙳. 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙰𝚁𝙶𝙴𝚂𝚃 𝚂𝙲𝙰𝚁 𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙾𝙽 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙱𝙾𝙳𝚈 𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙷𝙴 𝙶𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙴𝙳 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝚂𝙽𝙾𝙺𝙴 (𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙵𝙰𝙲𝙴), 𝙰𝙻𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷 𝙸𝚃 𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙰𝚁𝙶𝙴𝚂𝚃, 𝙸𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙼𝙾𝚂𝚃 𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙵𝚄𝙻. 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙾𝙺𝙴 𝚄𝙿 𝙾𝙽 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝟷𝟽𝚃𝙷 𝚃𝙾 𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙱𝙾𝚈𝚂 𝙷𝙰𝙳 𝚄𝚂𝙴𝙳 𝙰 𝚂𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙿𝙸𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙽𝙴𝙲𝚃 𝙴𝙰𝙲𝙷 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙼𝙾𝙻𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙾𝙶𝙴𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙰 𝚂𝙸𝙽𝙶𝙻𝙴 𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙴, 𝙽𝙾 𝙼𝙰𝚃𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚈 𝚆𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝙾𝙽 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙱𝙾𝙳𝚈. 𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙻𝙴𝙴𝙿𝚂 𝙿𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙲𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝙽𝙰𝙺𝙴𝙳 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝚈𝙴𝙰𝚁 𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳 𝙱𝙴𝙲𝙰𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚃𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙳 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙾𝙽 𝙸𝙽 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙷𝙾𝙼𝙴 𝟸𝟺/𝟽, 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙾𝙽'𝚃 𝙰𝙳𝙼𝙸𝚃 𝙸𝚃 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝙶𝙴𝚃𝚂 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙳 𝚀𝚄𝙸𝙲𝙺𝙻𝚈 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙸𝙻𝚈. 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝙽𝚃𝚂 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙰𝙽𝚈𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙾 𝙱𝚄𝚈 𝙰 𝙳𝙾𝙶 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙵𝙴𝙴𝙻𝚂 𝙱𝙰𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙸𝚃 𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙷𝙴 𝙰𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝚆𝙷𝙸𝙻𝙴 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙺𝚂.

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝚁𝙰𝙸𝚃𝚂 : 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾 𝙸𝚂 𝙷𝙾𝚃-𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙴𝙳, 𝚂𝙷𝙾𝚁𝚃 𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙷𝙰𝙳 𝙰 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝚃𝙾𝚇𝙸𝙲 𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙳𝚂𝙴𝚃 𝙰𝙱𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙸𝙼𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙰𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳 𝙷𝙸𝙼. 𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙴𝙰𝚁𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚄𝙽𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙾𝙵𝚃𝙴𝙽 𝚁𝚄𝚂𝙷𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙶. 𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙿𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝙰 𝚃𝙾𝙳𝙳𝙻𝙴𝚁 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙸𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝙰𝙵𝚁𝙰𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙿𝙾𝚄𝚃. 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙵𝚄𝙽𝙽𝚈 𝙸𝙽 𝙰 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝚃𝚈 𝚆𝙰𝚈, 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝚃𝚁𝚈𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙾 𝙱𝙴 𝙵𝚄𝙽𝙽𝚈 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙴𝚁𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝙳-𝙿𝙰𝙽 𝙰𝚃𝚃𝙸𝚃𝚄𝙳𝙴 𝙴𝙰𝚁𝙽 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝙻𝙰𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚂. 𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙿𝙸𝙲𝙴𝚂 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻 𝚃𝙾 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙿𝙾𝙸𝙽𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝚃𝚃𝚈 𝚂𝚄𝚁𝙴 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙺𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙷𝙸𝙼, 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝙰𝙻𝚂𝙾 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝚁𝙻𝚈; 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙹𝚄𝚂𝚃 𝙽𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝙰𝙳𝙼𝙸𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝙰𝙽𝚈𝙾𝙽𝙴. 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻 𝙸𝚂 𝙰 𝙷𝚄𝙶𝙴 𝙿𝙰𝚁𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾'𝚂 𝙻𝙸𝙵𝙴 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙾𝙽𝙰𝙻𝙸𝚃𝚈. 𝚂𝙴𝚇 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾 𝙸𝚂 𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝚃𝚃𝚈 𝙼𝚄𝙲𝙷 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙰𝙼𝙴 𝙴𝙰𝙲𝙷 𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴, 𝙷𝙴 𝚄𝚂𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙱𝙴 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵𝙸𝚂𝙷 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙾𝙼𝙴𝙽 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙺𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙽 𝙸𝚂 𝙰𝙽 𝙰𝙲𝙲𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽. 𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷 𝚂𝙴𝚇 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝚂𝙻𝙰𝙿𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙳𝙴𝙶𝚁𝙰𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂 𝙸𝚂 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝚃𝚃𝚈 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚁𝙳.

𝙱𝙴𝙽 𝙸𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝙾𝚃 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝚅𝚄𝙽𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙱𝙻𝙴. 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙿𝙴𝚁 𝙸𝚂 𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝚂𝙷𝙾𝚁𝚃 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙰𝙽 𝙱𝙻𝙾𝚆 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙵𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝚀𝚄𝙸𝙲𝙺𝙻𝚈 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙳𝙵𝚄𝙻 𝙾𝙵 𝙸𝚃. 𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝙿𝙴𝙽𝚂 𝚄𝙿 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙸𝚂 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙾 𝚃𝙰𝙻𝙺 𝙰𝙱𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙵𝙴𝙴𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴. 𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝙵𝙴𝙴𝙻 𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴 𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙷𝙸𝙳𝙴 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙴𝙼𝙾𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂. 𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝚁𝙰𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙾𝚄𝙲𝙷 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙰𝙻𝚆𝙰𝚈𝚂 𝚆𝙰𝙽𝚃𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙱𝙴 𝙲𝙻𝙾𝚂𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝙺𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙽, 𝚆𝙴𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙸𝚃'𝚂 𝚆𝙰𝚃𝙲𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙽𝚃 𝙾𝚁 𝙻𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝚁𝙴𝚂𝚃 𝙸𝙽 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙻𝙰𝙿 𝚆𝙷𝙸𝙻𝙴 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙳𝚂, 𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙳 𝙰𝚃 𝙰𝙻𝙻. 𝚂𝙴𝚇 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙱𝙴𝙽 𝙸𝚂 𝙳𝙾𝚆𝙽𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝙵𝙻𝚄𝙵𝙵𝚈 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙼𝙰𝙹𝙾𝚁𝙸𝚃𝚈 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴, 𝙻𝙸𝙿𝚂 𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝙹𝙾𝙸𝙽𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙺𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝙴𝙳, '𝙶𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙶𝙸𝚁𝙻' 𝙰𝙽𝙳 '𝙱𝙴𝙰𝚄𝚃𝙸𝙵𝚄𝙻' 𝙸𝚂 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝚃𝚃𝚈 𝙼𝚄𝙲𝙷 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚅𝙾𝙲𝙰𝙱𝚄𝙻𝙰𝚁𝚈 𝙳𝚄𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝙴𝚇.

𝙺𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙽 / 𝙳𝙰𝙽𝙽𝚈 𝙿𝙾𝚁𝚃𝙴𝚁 (𝙾𝚁 𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵 𝙸𝙽𝚂𝙴𝚁𝚃)

𝙰𝙶𝙴 : 𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷𝙻𝚈 𝟸𝟹 (𝙸𝚂𝙷)

𝙷𝙰𝙸𝚁 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚄𝚁 : 𝙰𝚂𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙱𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙳𝙴

𝙴𝚈𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚄𝚁 : 𝚂𝙴𝙰 𝙵𝙾𝙰𝙼 𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝙽

𝙰𝙿𝙿𝙴𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙴𝚂 : 𝙸 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆 𝙰𝙻𝙾𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙿𝙴𝙾𝙿𝙻𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙰𝚂 𝙰 𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵 𝙸𝙽𝚂𝙴𝚁𝚃 𝚂𝙾 𝙹𝚄𝚂𝚃 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴 𝙾𝚁 𝚂𝙺𝙸𝙿 𝙸𝙵 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚆𝙰𝙽𝚃 𝚃𝙾!

𝙳𝙰𝙽𝙽𝚈 𝙸𝚂 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝙼𝚄𝙲𝙷 𝙰 𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙼𝙰𝙻𝙸𝚂𝚃, 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙽𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝙷𝙰𝙳 𝙰 𝙻𝙾𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙰𝙽𝚈𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝙾 𝚃𝚁𝙴𝙰𝚂𝚄𝚁𝙴𝚂 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂. 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝚆𝙴𝙰𝚁 𝙰𝙻𝙾𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙼𝙰𝙺𝙴-𝚄𝙿 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙸𝙵 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂 𝙸𝚃'𝚂 𝙹𝚄𝚂𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙿𝙴𝚂𝚃 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙾𝙽𝙻𝚈 𝚃𝙷𝚁 𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝙽𝙴𝙲𝙴𝚂𝙸𝚃𝙸𝙴𝚂. 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙰 𝚂𝙲𝙰𝚁 𝙾𝙽 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚁𝚄𝙽𝚂 𝙸𝙽 𝙰 𝚂𝚃𝚁𝙰𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙴 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚂𝙸𝚃𝚂 𝙾𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙹𝙾𝙸𝙽𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙸𝚂 𝙱𝙴𝚃𝚆𝙴𝙴𝙽 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝚄𝙼𝙱 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙸𝙽𝙳𝙴𝚇 𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁, 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙶𝙾𝚃 𝙸𝚃 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙱𝚁𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁'𝚂 𝙲𝙷𝙸𝙻𝙳𝙷𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝚁𝙰𝙱𝙸𝚃. 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝙾𝚁 𝚆𝙴𝙰𝚁 𝙰𝙻𝙾𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙹𝙴𝚆𝙴𝙻𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝙰 𝙵𝙴𝚆 𝚂𝙸𝙻𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙰 𝙽𝙴𝙲𝙺𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙴 𝙾𝚁 𝚃𝚆𝙾. 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚄𝚂𝚄𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝚆𝙴𝙰𝚁𝚂 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙷𝙰𝙸𝚁 𝙳𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝙱𝙴𝙲𝙰𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙸𝙼𝙿𝙻𝚈 𝙷𝙰𝚃𝙴𝚂 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝚃 𝚃𝙸𝙴𝙳 𝚄𝙿 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚈, 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚄𝚂𝙴𝚂𝙴𝚂 𝙸𝚃 𝙰𝚂 𝙰 𝚂𝙷𝙸𝙴𝙻𝙳.

𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 : 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾/𝙱𝙴𝙽, 𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙶𝙴, 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻, 𝚂𝙿𝙸𝙲𝚈 𝙵𝙾𝙾𝙳𝚂, 𝙲𝙷𝙴𝚆𝚈 𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚂, 𝙰𝙽𝚈 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙼 𝙾𝙵 𝙰𝙽𝙸𝙼𝙰𝙻 (𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙿𝙴𝚃 𝙰𝙽 𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙶𝙰𝚃𝙾𝚁 𝙸𝙵 𝙸𝚃 𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳𝙽'𝚃 𝙱𝙸𝚃𝙴 𝙷𝙴𝚁), 𝙷𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈, 𝟾𝟶𝚂/𝟿𝟶𝚂 𝙼𝚄𝚂𝙸𝙲.

𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 : 𝚁𝙸𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝚄𝙱𝚆𝙰𝚈, 𝚂𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙿 𝙲𝙻𝚄𝙱𝚂, 𝙼𝚄𝚂𝙸𝙲 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙶𝙴𝙽𝙴𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽, 𝙱𝙴𝙽'𝚂 𝙼𝙾𝙾𝙳𝚂, 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙳 𝚂𝙷𝙾𝚆𝙴𝚁𝚂, 𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙰𝙺, 𝙲𝙷𝙻𝙾𝚁𝙾𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙼, 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙸𝚂𝚃.

𝙵𝚄𝙽 𝙵𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚂 : 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝙰𝙻𝙺𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙷𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵 𝙰𝙻𝙾𝚃. 𝙼𝙾𝚂𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙽𝚃𝚂 𝙾𝚁 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂 𝙿𝙰𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙺. 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙰𝙻𝚂𝙾 𝚂𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙾𝚁 𝙷𝚄𝙼 𝚃𝙾 𝙷𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝚃 𝚃𝙾𝙾. 𝙳𝙰𝙽𝙽𝚈 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆𝚂 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙴𝚃𝚂 𝙾𝙽, 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝙽𝚃 𝙿𝙴𝙾𝙿𝙻𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝙵𝙴𝙴𝙻 𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙰𝚂𝚂𝙴𝙳 𝙰𝙱𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙸𝚃. 𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙱𝙴𝙽 𝙲𝚁𝙸𝙴𝚂 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝚂𝙷𝙴 '𝚂𝙻𝙴𝙴𝙿𝚂'.

𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝙶𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙾𝙵 𝙰 𝙲𝙾𝙾𝙺. 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙰𝙽 𝙲𝙾𝙾𝙺 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝚃𝙷𝚁 𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙼𝚄𝙼 𝙾𝙵 𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙸𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂. 𝙳𝙰𝙽𝙽𝚈 𝚆𝙰𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝙰𝙻𝚆𝙰𝚈𝚂 𝙶𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙰𝚃 𝙰𝚁𝚃 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙸𝚃 𝚃𝙾𝙾𝙺 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝚈𝙴𝙰𝚁𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙳 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝚂𝚃𝚈𝙻𝙴. 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚂𝙴𝙲𝚁𝙴𝚃𝙻𝚈 𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴 𝙶𝙴𝚁𝙼𝙰𝙽 𝚂𝙾 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆𝚂 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚅𝙸𝙲 𝙲𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚂 𝙷𝙴𝚁.

𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙰 𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙳𝙻𝙴 𝚂𝙽𝙾𝙱. 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙶𝙾𝚃 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝚄𝙿𝚂𝙴𝚃 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙱𝙴𝙽 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝙳 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙶𝙴 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙸𝙳𝙽'𝚃 𝚃𝙴𝙻𝙻 𝙷𝙸𝙼.

𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚄𝚂𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙱𝙴𝙻𝙻𝚈𝙱𝚄𝚃𝚃𝙾𝙽 𝙿𝙸𝙴𝚁𝙲𝙴𝙳.

𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝚂𝙷𝙴𝚂 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝚃𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙴𝚁. (𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝚂𝙷𝙴𝚂 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝙰 𝙱𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙴𝚁).𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝙾𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙳𝚄𝙼𝙱 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙳𝙾𝙼 𝚃𝚁𝙸𝚅𝙸𝙰 𝙵𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚂.

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝚁𝙰𝙸𝚃𝚂 : 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙰𝙳𝚅𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙾𝚄𝚂 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙵𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙿𝙸𝚃𝙴 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚈 𝚃𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙱𝙻𝙴𝚂, 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝙲𝚄𝙻𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙴𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝙵𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙴𝚂𝙿𝙴𝙲𝙸𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 𝚂𝙿𝙸𝙲𝚈 𝙵𝙾𝙾𝙳𝚂. 𝙳𝙰𝙽𝙽𝚈 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝙼𝚄𝚂𝙸𝙲 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙰𝚃𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙼𝚄𝚂𝙸𝙲 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴, 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙴𝙽𝙹𝙾𝚈𝚂 𝙱𝙰𝙽𝙳𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙰𝚁𝚃𝙸𝚂𝚃𝚂 𝚂𝚄𝙲𝙷 𝙰𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙿𝚃𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂, 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙰𝚆𝙰𝚈𝚂, 𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙰𝙻𝙴𝚁𝚂 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙴𝙻, 𝙹𝙰𝙼𝙴𝚂 𝙱𝚁𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙷𝙸𝚃𝙴 𝚂𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙿𝙴𝚂 (𝙿𝙻𝚄𝚂 𝙼𝙰𝙽𝚈 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝚂).

𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝚂𝙷𝚈 𝙳𝚄𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝙴𝚇. 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙳𝚂 𝙸𝚃 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝚃𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙶𝙴 𝙾𝚁 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽 𝚂𝙿𝙴𝙰𝙺 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙼𝚄𝙲𝙷 𝙳𝚄𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝙴𝙳, 𝙾𝙽𝙻𝚈 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾/𝙱𝙴𝙽 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙱𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚂𝙸𝙳𝙴 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙴𝚁. 𝙰𝙻𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙾𝙻𝙳𝚂 𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙰𝚃 𝙰𝙵𝙵𝙴𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙸𝚂 𝙶𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙴𝙵𝚄𝙻 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙸𝙼, 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙿𝙴𝙲𝚃𝚂 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾/𝙱𝙴𝙽'𝚂 𝚂𝙺𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙸𝚂𝙸𝚂𝙼 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙸𝙼. 𝙳𝙰𝙽𝙽𝚈 𝙲𝙰𝙽 𝙰𝙻𝚂𝙾 𝙱𝙴 𝙽𝙰𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴𝚂, 𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴𝚂 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙾𝙾 𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙳/𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙻𝚃𝙷. 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝚂𝙾 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝙳𝙾𝚄𝙱𝚃𝙵𝚄𝙻 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝙻𝙾𝙾𝙺𝚂, 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝚅𝙰𝙸𝙽 𝚂𝙴𝙴𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝚂𝚄𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴, 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙶𝙴𝙽𝚄𝙸𝙽𝙻𝙴𝚈 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙴𝚁𝚂𝚃𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙱𝙴𝙽/𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾 𝚂𝙴𝙴𝚂. 𝚂𝙷𝙴'𝚂 𝙳𝚈𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙾 𝙼𝙴𝙴𝚃 𝙰𝚁𝙼𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙶𝙴, 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙱𝙾𝚈𝚂 𝙺𝙴𝙴𝙿 𝚃𝙰𝙻𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰𝙱𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻 𝙰𝙻𝚆𝙰𝚈𝚂 𝙱𝙻𝚄𝚂𝙷𝙴𝚂 𝙾𝚁 𝙼𝚄𝚃𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚂 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙽𝙰𝙼𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝙴𝙳.

𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻 / 𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙺𝙸𝙴𝚂𝚃 𝙳𝙾𝙶 𝙸𝙽 𝙽𝙴𝚆 𝚈𝙾𝚁𝙺 𝙲𝙸𝚃𝚈

𝙰𝙶𝙴 :𝟸𝟽

𝙷𝙰𝙸𝚁 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚄𝚁 :𝙱𝚁𝙾𝚆𝙽

𝙴𝚈𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚄𝚁 :𝙱𝙻𝚄𝙴/𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝙽

𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 :𝙰𝚁𝙼𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙶𝙴, 𝙺𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙽, 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾/𝙱𝙴𝙽, 𝚆𝙾𝙼𝙴𝙽, 𝙼𝙴𝙽, 𝙴𝚇𝙿𝙴𝙽𝚂𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙵𝙾𝙾𝙳, 𝙲𝙸𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚂, 𝚆𝙷𝙸𝚂𝙺𝙴𝚈, 𝙵𝙰𝚂𝚃 𝙲𝙰𝚁𝚂, 𝚃𝙰𝚃𝚃𝙾𝙾𝚂.

𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 : 𝚃𝚁𝙰𝚅𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶, 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙹𝙾𝙱, 𝚂𝙽𝙾𝙺𝙴, 𝚄𝚂𝙷𝙰𝚁, 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾/𝙱𝙴𝙽 (𝙼𝙾𝚂𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴), 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚄𝙽𝙲𝙻𝙴, 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙴𝙽𝙶𝙻𝙸𝚂𝙷 𝙻𝙰𝙽𝙶𝚄𝙰𝙶𝙴.

𝙵𝚄𝙽 𝙵𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚂 : 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙻 𝙽𝙰𝙼𝙴 𝙸𝚂 '𝙺𝙰𝙸𝚂𝙴𝚁' 𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝚂𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙵𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝚈 𝙽𝙰𝙼𝙴. 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙲𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝙸𝙽 𝚃𝙰𝚃𝚃𝙾𝙾𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙴𝙽𝙹𝙾𝚈𝚂 𝙶𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙼 𝙳𝙾𝙽𝙴, 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙵𝚄𝙻 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙴𝚁. 𝙷𝙴'𝚂 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙺𝙴𝙳 𝙾𝚄𝚃𝙲𝙻𝙾𝚂𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝟹𝟶𝙺 𝙾𝙽 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙲𝚄𝚂𝚃𝙾𝙼 𝙸𝙽𝙺 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝙾𝙿 𝚃𝙰𝚃𝚃𝙾𝙸𝚂𝚃𝚂 𝙾𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙶𝙻𝙾𝙱𝙴. 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝙽𝙸𝙿𝙿𝙻𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙿𝙸𝙴𝚁𝙲𝙴𝙳, 𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙰 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚂𝙻𝙸𝚃 𝙸𝙽 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙻𝙴𝙵𝚃 𝙴𝚈𝙴 𝙱𝚁𝙾𝚆 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝙵𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙳𝙾 𝙰𝚂 𝙰 𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽𝙰𝙶𝙴𝚁 𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝙰 𝙶𝙸𝚁𝙻 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚈 𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝙳. 𝚅𝙸𝙲 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴 𝙱𝚄𝚃𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚂, 𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙻 𝙾𝙻𝙳 𝙻𝙰𝙳𝚈 𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚂, 𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙽𝙾 𝚂𝙷𝙰𝙼𝙴 𝙸𝙽 𝙸𝚃. 𝚂𝙽𝙾𝙺𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙶𝙴𝚃 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝙰 𝙵𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝙿𝙰𝚂𝚂𝙿𝙾𝚁𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙾 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚃𝙴𝚂 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝙶𝙴𝚁𝙼𝙰𝙽𝚈 𝙱𝙴𝙲𝙰𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙸𝙳𝙽'𝚃 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝙾𝙽𝙴. 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾 𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙶𝙴𝚃 𝚅𝙸𝙲 𝚃𝙾 𝚃𝙴𝙰𝙲𝙷 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝙲𝚄𝚁𝚂𝙴 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳𝚂 𝙸𝙽 𝙶𝙴𝚁𝙼𝙰𝙽 𝚂𝙾 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚈 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙼 𝙾𝙽 𝚂𝙽𝙾𝙺𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚈 𝚆𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝚂𝙰𝚈𝙸𝙽𝙶. 𝚅𝙸𝙲 𝙸𝚂 𝙰𝙲𝙲𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙰𝚂 𝙵𝚄𝙲𝙺, 𝙷𝙴'𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝚆𝙰𝚈𝚂 𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙿𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝙵𝙴𝙴𝚃 𝙾𝚁 𝚂𝚃𝚄𝙱𝙱𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙾𝙴𝚂.

𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻 𝚄𝚂𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙶𝙴𝚃 𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙳 $𝟸 𝙱𝚈 𝚂𝙲𝙷𝙾𝙾𝙻 𝙺𝙸𝙳𝚂 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝟷𝟻 𝚃𝙾 𝙱𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙺 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙸𝚁 𝙱𝚄𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙴𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚂𝙴𝚂, 𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝙽𝙻𝚈 𝚃𝙾𝙾𝙺 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚈 𝚂𝙾 𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝚃𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙰 𝙼𝙴𝙰𝙻 𝙰𝚃 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙵𝙰𝚅𝙾𝚄𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙴 𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙴𝚁.

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝚁𝙰𝙸𝚃𝚂 : 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙰 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵𝙻𝙴𝚂𝚂 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙾𝙽 𝚄𝙽𝚃𝙸𝙻 𝙸𝚃 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝚂𝙴𝚇. 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙶𝙸𝙵𝚃 𝙰𝙽𝚈𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙾 𝙰𝙽𝚈𝙱𝙾𝙳𝚈 𝙽𝙾 𝙼𝙰𝚃𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝚂𝚃 𝙸𝚂, 𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚈 𝙸𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙾 𝙷𝙸𝙼. 𝚂𝙴𝚇 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻 𝙸𝚂 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝙳𝚈, 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝙶𝙸𝚅𝙸𝙽𝙶. 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝚆𝙰𝚈𝚂 𝚃𝙾𝙿. 𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝙱𝙻𝙾𝚆𝙹𝙾𝙱𝚂 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝚆𝙾𝙽'𝚃 𝙶𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙼, 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝙵𝙴𝚁𝚂 𝚀𝚄𝙸𝙲𝙺𝙴𝚁 𝚂𝙴𝚇 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙻𝙴𝚂𝚂 𝙵𝙴𝙴𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 𝙸𝙽𝚅𝙾𝙻𝚅𝙴𝙳. 𝙰𝚁𝙼𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝚂𝙰𝙸𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴 '𝙻' 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳 𝙾𝙽𝙲𝙴 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙷𝙴 𝙿𝙰𝙽𝙸𝙲𝙺𝙴𝙳.

𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻 𝙷𝙰𝚃𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙰𝙻𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰𝙱𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙿𝙰𝚂𝚃 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙰𝙱𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙵𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝚈, 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚄𝙽𝙲𝙻𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝙰𝙱𝚄𝚂𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙸𝙽 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝚂𝙴𝙽𝚂𝙴. 𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙺𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃'𝚂 𝚆𝙷𝚈 𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 𝙼𝙴𝙽 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝚆𝙰𝚈𝚂 𝙷𝙰𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝙷𝙸𝙼𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙸𝚃, 𝙾𝙽𝙻𝚈 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾 𝚃𝙾𝙻𝙳 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝙸𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝙾𝙺𝙰𝚈 𝙳𝙸𝙳 𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝙵𝙴𝙴𝙻 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙵𝙾𝚁𝚃𝙰𝙱𝙻𝙴 𝙴𝙽𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷 𝚃𝙾 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙴 𝙾𝚄𝚃.

𝙰𝚁𝙼𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝙷𝚄𝚇 / 𝙶𝙸𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝚆𝙰𝚃

𝙰𝙶𝙴 : 𝟸𝟻

𝙷𝙰𝙸𝚁 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚄𝚁 : 𝙶𝙸𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁 (𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙿𝙴𝚃 𝙼𝙰𝚃𝙲𝙷𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝚁𝙰𝙿𝙴𝚂)

𝙴𝚈𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚄𝚁 : 𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝙽

𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 : 𝚁𝚄𝙻𝙴𝚂, 𝙽𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙽𝙴𝚂𝚂, 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻 (𝙼𝙾𝚂𝚃𝙻𝚈), 𝙱𝙴𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝙽 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙶𝙴, 𝙱𝙴𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝙿𝙰𝚁𝙴𝙳, 𝙻𝙰𝚅𝙸𝚂𝙷 𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶, 𝙵𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙷 𝙲𝙾𝚃𝚃𝙾𝙽 𝚂𝙷𝙴𝙴𝚃𝚂, 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙼𝙴𝙻𝙻 𝙾𝙵 𝚁𝙰𝙸𝙽.

𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 : 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾 𝚁𝙴𝙽, 𝚃𝙰𝚁𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙴𝚂𝚂, 𝙼𝙴𝚂𝚂𝚈 𝙳𝚁𝙴𝚂𝚂𝙴𝚁𝚂, 𝙰𝙼𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙲𝙰𝙽 𝙲𝚄𝙻𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙴, 𝙱𝙻𝙾𝙾𝙳, 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙵𝙻𝙸𝙲𝚃, 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙷.

𝙵𝚄𝙽𝙵𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚂 : 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝚂𝙷𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙼𝙾𝚅𝙴 𝙱𝙰𝙲𝙺 𝚃𝙾 𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙳𝙾𝙽 𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴𝙳𝙰𝚈. 𝙷𝙴 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝚃𝙴𝙽𝙳𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙼𝙴𝙽 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝚂𝚃 𝙾𝚁𝙳𝙴𝚁, 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙾𝙾 𝙼𝚄𝙲𝙷 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙼.

𝙿𝙰𝚁𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝚁𝚄𝚃𝙷 𝙾𝙵 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚂𝙽𝙾𝙺𝙴 𝙳𝙸𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙵𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝚈, 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚈𝙴𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝚂𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝙸𝚃. 𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙼𝙴𝙻𝙻 𝙾𝙵 𝚁𝙰𝙸𝙽 𝙱𝙴𝙲𝙰𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝙸𝚃 𝚁𝙴𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙳𝚂 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙾𝙼𝙴.

𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚃𝙲𝙷𝙴𝚂 𝙲𝚁𝙰𝙿𝙿𝚈 𝚂𝙾𝙰𝙿 𝙾𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙰𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙼.

𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙱𝙴𝙴𝙽 𝙱𝚄𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙴𝙳 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙻𝙸𝙵𝙴. 𝙷𝙴 𝙶𝚁𝙴𝚆 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙵𝚁𝙴𝙲𝙺𝙻𝙴𝚂 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙳𝙰 𝙼𝙸𝚂𝚂𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙼. 𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝚃𝙾𝙻𝙳 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝚂𝙾 𝙾𝙽𝙲𝙴, 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙿𝙾𝙽𝚂𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙳. 𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙰 𝚂𝙰𝚅𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 𝙰𝙲𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙽𝚃 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙴𝙼𝙴𝚁𝙶𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙸𝙴𝚂. 𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝚆𝙰𝚈𝚂 𝚆𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙶𝙾 𝚃𝙾 𝙶𝙴𝚁𝙼𝙰𝙽𝚈.

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝚁𝙰𝙸𝚃𝚂 : 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙰 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝙻𝙾𝚈𝙰𝙻 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙿𝙴𝙲𝚃𝙰𝙱𝙻𝙴 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙾𝙽, 𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝙻𝙴𝙵𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝚂𝚃 𝙾𝚁𝙳𝙴𝚁 𝙱𝙴𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙳 𝚈𝙴𝙰𝚁𝚂 𝙰𝙶𝙾 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙷𝙾𝚂𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚈 𝙰𝙵𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚂𝙽𝙾𝙺𝙴 𝙳𝙸𝙴𝙳. 𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝙴𝙿 𝙳𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝙷𝙾𝙿𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙵𝙸𝚇 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂. 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙽𝙴𝙰𝚃 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚃𝙸𝙳𝚈 𝙱𝚈 𝙽𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙴 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙿𝚄𝚂𝙷𝙴𝚂 𝙸𝚃 𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙾 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙿𝙴𝙾𝙿𝙻𝙴 𝚃𝙾𝙾. 𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙼𝙴𝙻𝙻𝚂 𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴 𝙼𝙸𝙽𝚃 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙴𝚇𝙿𝙴𝙽𝚂𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙻𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙴𝚂. 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝙰𝚂 𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙲𝙸𝙾𝚄𝚂 𝙰𝚂 𝙷𝙴 𝚄𝚂𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙱𝙴, 𝙷𝙴 𝙶𝚁𝙴𝚆 𝚃𝙾 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙴.

𝚂𝙽𝙾𝙺𝙴 / 𝙲𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚁 𝚃𝚁𝚄𝙼𝙿 𝚂𝚄𝙿𝙿𝙾𝚁𝚃𝙴𝚁

𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙷𝙸𝙼. 𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙰𝙽 𝚁𝙾𝚃 𝙸𝙽 𝙷𝙴𝙻𝙻 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚂𝚄𝙲𝙺 𝙼𝚈 𝚃𝙾𝙴🤠

𝚄𝚂𝙷𝙰𝚁 / 6'2 𝚃𝙰𝚃𝚃𝙾𝙴𝙳 𝙻𝙴𝚅𝙸 𝙰𝙲𝙺𝙴𝚁𝙼𝙰𝙽💦

𝙰𝙶𝙴 : 29

𝙷𝙰𝙸𝚁 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚄𝚁 : 𝙱𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙺

𝙴𝚈𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚄𝚁 : 𝚂𝚄𝙽𝙵𝙻𝙾𝚆𝙴𝚁 𝚈𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙾𝚆

𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 : 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙺, 𝙱𝙻𝙾𝙾𝙳, 𝚂𝙽𝙾𝙺𝙴, 𝙲𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙿 𝙽𝙸𝙲𝙾𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙴, 𝙰𝙼𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙲𝙰𝙽 𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚈 𝙲𝚄𝙻𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙴, 𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝙼𝙴𝙰𝚃.

𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝚂 : 𝙷𝚄𝚇, 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾, 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙻𝙴𝙸𝙽𝙰𝙶𝙴, 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙹𝚄𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙲𝙴 𝚂𝚈𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙼, 𝙻𝙾𝚂𝙸𝙽𝙶, 𝙼𝙴𝚃𝙰𝙻 𝚄𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚂𝙸𝙻𝚂, 𝙱𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙾𝚄𝚁𝚂.

'𝙵𝚄𝙽'𝙵𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚂 : 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝙰𝙽 𝙾𝙽𝙻𝚈 𝙲𝙷𝙸𝙻𝙳. 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝙱𝙾𝚁𝙽 𝙱𝙰𝙳, 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝙼𝙰𝙳𝙴 𝙱𝙰𝙳. 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝚄𝙽𝚂𝚄𝚁𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙸𝙼𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵 𝙸𝙽 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙻𝙸𝚃𝚈. 𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙰𝚂𝙾𝙲𝙸𝙰𝚃𝙴𝚂 𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙸𝙻𝚈, 𝙼𝙰𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙹𝙾𝙱 𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙸𝙴𝚁. 𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙸𝙳'𝙽𝚃 𝙰𝙻𝚆𝙰𝚈𝚂 𝙷𝙰𝚃𝙴 𝙷𝚄𝚇. 𝙰𝙻𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷 𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙵𝙾𝙻𝙻𝙾𝚆𝚂 𝚂𝙽𝙾𝙺𝙴𝚂 𝙶𝚄𝙸𝙳𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴, 𝙷𝙴 𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚁𝙴𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝚂𝚃 𝙾𝚁𝙳𝙴𝚁.

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝚁𝙰𝙸𝚃𝚂 : 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝚅𝚄𝙽𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙱𝙻𝙴 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙲𝙴𝚁𝚃𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙻𝚈 𝚂𝚄𝙵𝙵𝙴𝚁𝚂 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝙼𝚄𝙻𝚃𝙸𝙿𝙻𝙴 𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙰𝙻 𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙻𝚃𝙷 𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙾𝚁𝙳𝙴𝚁𝚂. 𝙿𝚃𝚂𝙳 𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙱𝙴 𝙰 𝙱𝙸𝙶 𝙾𝙽𝙴, 𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙰𝙽'𝚃 𝙻𝙴𝚃 𝙶𝙾 𝙾𝙵 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙷𝙰𝙿𝙿𝙴𝙽𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙻𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙻𝙴 𝚂𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁, 𝙾𝚁 𝙷𝙾𝚆 𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙱𝙴𝙴𝙽 𝚃𝚁𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝙱𝚈 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙸𝙽 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙻𝙸𝙵𝙴 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝚂𝙸𝙽𝙲𝙴, 𝙸𝙽𝙲𝙻𝚄𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝙽𝙾𝙺𝙴. 𝚄𝚂𝙷𝙰𝚁 '𝙺𝙴𝙽𝙹𝙸𝚁𝙾' 𝙸𝚂 𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙰 𝙲𝙷𝙸𝙻𝙳, 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚂𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝚃𝚁𝙰𝚄𝙼𝙰 𝙽𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙾𝚆𝙴𝙳 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝙼𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙴 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙶𝚁𝙾𝚆. 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝙰𝚂 𝙸𝙽𝙳𝙴𝙿𝙴𝙽𝙳𝙰𝙽𝚃 𝙰𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙱𝙾𝚈𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝚂𝚃 𝙾𝚁𝙳𝙴𝚁 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝚂𝚃𝚁𝚄𝙶𝙶𝙻𝙴𝙳, 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙽𝙾 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝚂𝙰𝚆 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙸𝙶𝙽𝚂. 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝙷𝚄𝚁𝚃 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙽𝙾 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙲𝙰𝙼𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙳 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝙽𝙸𝚃𝙸𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝙻𝙴𝙵𝚃, 𝚂𝙾 𝙷𝙴 𝙺𝙴𝙿𝚃 𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶. 𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝙰𝙱𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙱𝙰𝙲𝙺, 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽 𝙸𝙵 𝙸𝚃 𝙲𝙾𝚂𝚃 𝙷𝙸𝙼 𝙸𝚂 𝙻𝙸𝙵𝙴. 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝚈𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙶, 𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾 𝚃𝙾 𝙱𝙴 𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴 𝙰 𝙱𝙸𝙶 𝙱𝚁𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙾 𝙷𝙸𝙼, 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙷𝙾𝚂𝙴 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻 𝙸𝙽𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙰𝙳.

𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙶𝙴 / 𝙱𝙰𝙱𝚈 𝚆𝙴 𝙼𝚄𝚂𝚃 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝚃𝙴𝙲𝚃 𝙰𝚃 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴𝚂

𝚂𝚃𝙰𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚁𝙳 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝚃𝚃𝚈 𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙽𝙳 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙻𝙾𝚃𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙵𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙴 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚆𝙸𝚂𝙳𝙾𝙼 𝚃𝙾 𝚂𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙴. 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝚈𝙿𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝙱𝙴𝚂𝚃 𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙽𝙳 𝚆𝙴 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝚆𝙰𝙽𝚃, 𝚄𝙽𝙰𝙳𝚄𝙻𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝙳𝙰𝚁𝙺 𝙷𝚄𝙼𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙰 𝚂𝙿𝙻𝙰𝚂𝙷 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙾𝙼𝙴𝙻𝚈 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙼𝚃𝙷 𝙼𝙸𝚇𝙴𝙳 𝙸𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴.

𝙸 𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙳𝙸𝙴 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙶𝙴. 𝙸 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴𝙽'𝚃 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝚃𝙾𝙾 𝙼𝚄𝙲𝙷 𝙰𝙱𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙰𝙿𝙿𝙴𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙰𝙲𝙴 𝙰𝚂 𝙸 𝙹𝚄𝚂𝚃 𝙸𝙼𝙰𝙶𝙸𝙽𝙴 𝙼𝚈 𝙱𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝙸𝙽𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙰𝙳, 𝙱𝙴𝙲𝙰𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃'𝚂 𝚆𝙷𝙾 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙴𝙳 𝙾𝙵𝙵. 𝚂𝙾 𝙸 𝚄𝚁𝙶𝙴 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚃𝙾 𝙳𝙾 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙰𝙼𝙴, 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝚈𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝙱𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙴 𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝙸𝙵 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙲𝙷𝙾𝙾𝚂𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝙰𝙳𝙳 𝙰 𝚂/𝙸 𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝙸𝙽𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙰𝙳 𝙾𝙵 𝙳𝙰𝙽𝙽𝚈 <𝟹

𝙿𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝚃𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙰 𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙲𝙷 𝙾𝙵 𝚂𝙰𝙻𝚃. 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚂𝙴 𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝙹𝚄𝚂𝚃 𝙼𝚈 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙾𝙽𝙰𝙻 𝙸𝙼𝙰𝙶𝙸𝙽𝙴𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚂, 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝙼𝙰𝙽𝚈 𝚂𝙿𝙾𝙸𝙻𝙴𝚁𝚂 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙵𝚄𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙴 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚂 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴 𝚂𝙻𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙷𝙰𝙳𝙾𝚆𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝙸𝙽 𝙳𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙷 𝙴𝚇𝙿𝙻𝙰𝙽𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 𝚃𝙾𝚄𝙲𝙷𝙴𝙳 𝙾𝙽 𝙸𝙽 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙾𝚄𝚂 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚂!

𝙸 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙱𝙰𝙱𝙻𝚈 𝙰𝙳𝙳 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙻𝙰𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙹𝚄𝚂𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙶𝙴𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙼𝙾𝚂𝚃 𝙸𝙼𝙿𝙾𝚁𝚃𝙰𝙽𝚃 𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚂 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴!

𝙰𝙻𝚂𝙾 𝙿𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝙸𝙶𝙽𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝙰𝙽𝚈 𝙼𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙰𝙺𝙴𝚂, 𝙸'𝙼 𝙲𝚄𝚁𝚁𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙻𝚈 𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙾𝙽 𝙷𝙰𝙻𝙵 𝙰𝙽 𝙴𝚈𝙴 🤠

Love you guys,

𝙽 𝚡


	18. 𝙳𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙻 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙴𝚁𝙴𝚆𝙾𝙻𝙵 (𝙷𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙾𝚆𝙴𝙴𝙽 𝚂𝙿𝙴𝙲𝙸𝙰𝙻)

W⃠ W̺͆A̺͆R̺͆N̺͆I̺͆N̺͆G̺͆ W⃠

𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝙵𝙾𝙻𝙻𝙾𝚆 𝙳𝙸𝚁𝙴𝙲𝚃𝙻𝚈 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝚃𝙷𝙴 '𝙻𝙴𝚃𝙷𝙰𝙻 𝙻𝚄𝚂𝚃' 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈 𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙴, 𝙸𝚃 𝙸𝚂 𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙴𝙻𝚈 𝙰 𝙷𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙾𝚆𝙴𝙴𝙽 𝚂𝙿𝙴𝙲𝙸𝙰𝙻 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙰𝙻𝚂𝙾 𝙸𝙽𝙲𝙻𝚄𝙳𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙾𝙻𝙻𝙾𝚆𝙸𝙽𝙶;

𝚂𝙿𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶, 𝚂𝙻𝙰𝙿𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙶, 𝙽𝙰𝙼𝙴 𝙲𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶, 𝙳𝙴𝙶𝚁𝙰𝙳𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽, 𝙰𝙻𝙲𝙾𝙷𝙾𝙻 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙻𝚄𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙴, 𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴, 𝚅𝙾𝚈𝙴𝚄𝚁𝙸𝚂𝙼, 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙶𝙷 𝚁𝙸𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶, 𝙿𝚁𝙰𝙸𝚂𝙸𝙽𝙶, 𝙲𝙷𝙾𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙰 𝙽𝚄𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝙾𝙵 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂. 𝙸𝙵 𝙰𝙽𝚈 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙳𝙾𝙴𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝙰𝙿𝙿𝙴𝙰𝙻 𝚃𝙾 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙳𝙾 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙳 𝙾𝙽. 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙸𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝚂𝙾 𝙷𝙴𝙰𝚅𝙸𝙻𝚈 𝙵𝙾𝙲𝚄𝚂𝙴𝙳 𝙾𝙽 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻, 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚂𝙿𝙴𝙲𝙸𝙰𝙻 𝙸𝚂 𝙿𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻𝚈 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝚈𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝚁𝙴𝚀𝚄𝙴𝚂𝚃𝚂 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙰 𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝚃𝚆𝙴𝙴𝙽 𝙺𝚈𝙻𝙾, 𝙺𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙽 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙻. 𝙸𝚃 𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝙵𝙸𝚃 𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽𝙻𝚈 𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙾 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈 𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙴 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙸 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝚅𝙸𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰 𝙵𝙰𝙽-𝚂𝙴𝚁𝚅𝙸𝙲𝙴 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙶𝚄𝚈𝚂 𝚂𝙾 𝙿𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝙴𝙽𝙹𝙾𝚈! <𝟹

____________________________________

Danny couldn't bare it. Her skin tingled and her chest rattled with each shaky breath that heaved through her lips. It might have been the anticipation. But more then likely it was the fear of the unknown.

She was a clever girl, she knew partially how tonight would go, or so she thought.

Her body jumped when she felt a weight dip into the foreign couch cushion beside her, a dark chuckle found her ears and extinguished any confidence she had built up over the last few drawn-out minutes. Her lack of vision and her bound hands only heightened the rest of her senses. She could practically feel Kylo's breathing as it whispered across her shoulder, she could feel his fingers fisting the cushions fabric tightly beside her in restraint.

The man in question had sunken a few whiskeys in the last hour, it was the only way he would get through tonight. He hated the thought of sharing, but he knew it had to be done. Danny couldn't help but find Kylo irresistible like this, his low drawls and heavy breaths were a welcomed change to his abrasive sharp tongued wits.

"Relax Kitten. We don't want you all tense now do we?" Kylo had pressed a long - savouring kiss to her bare shoulder, his lips lingering longer then they perhaps should have. Danny shook her head weakly, chewing nervously on her lower lip and shifting on her knees. She had been in this exact same position before, bar the restrained wrists.

He pressed another kiss to her throat, humming deeply in his chest as he did, inhaling the sickly sweet perfume of Madagascar vanilla and ripe cherry that was beating off her tacked-nervous skin.

Kylo was somewhat smug about this whole ordeal, he came out on top in the end no matter the way things went, Vic was no match.

Danny felt Kylo retract from her, his intense warmth leaving the thick air around her chilly. She listened carefully, hoping to gage his steps and current whereabouts as he moved languidly, the whisky was no doubt sending his blood thick and slow.

She heard the cry of an armchair, the piece of furniture practically groaning under Kylo's weight as he slumped his big-tipsy body into it. She was about to open her mouth to speak, her lips quivering slightly until she heard the front door, and the clever step of expensively polished brogues that followed suit closely after.

She couldn't see him. And nor did he speak to indulge her. The man was no doubt frozen in his tracks, confused and awestruck by what he had walked himself into. The short few seconds of pause felt like minutes to Danny, she began to fidget, her little heart pumping harder and faster then it ever had before as it rammed painful against her weak little rib cage.

Vicrul passed his gaze over Danny. Taking in every tiny and minute detail his eyes could find, she was wrapped tightly in blood orange and black lace with a novelty Halloween blindfold shielding her pretty sea foam eyes.

The lingerie was sparse with her pebbled nipples peaking through the translucent orange fabric, it was hard to catch in the low light but he could see the black thigh highs she wore peaking over the pale rounds of her thighs as she sat perched for him on her knees. He was staring intently at her, until his attention was stolen away by the curt clearing of a throat. There sat Kylo. Slumped in Vicrul's living room armchair wearing nothing but his coal black suit trousers and leather buckled belt. The expression etched onto his face was an intermixed version of anger and excitement, he may have dreaded sharing, but he was growing elevated by the impending thoughts of the night ahead.

"Happy halloween asshole." Kylo fought hard to keep his words from slurring, his tone was remarkably calm and low. That startled Vicrul more then anything. It was as if he thought this wasn't real, the German snapped his head from Kylo to Danny a few times in turn, he may as well have pinched himself at the intrusive thoughts.

"You don't wanna open your gift?" Kylo chuckled to himself as Vicrul stepped closer towards Danny. He could smell her perfume beating from her warm skin, mixing deliciously with the outward aroma of cinnamon and baked apple. How fitting. Danny tried her best not to flinch when she felt the backs of his fingertips trace over her cheek and run behind her ear, his calloused skin was still firm and cold from the autumn air nipping and howling just outside. She imagined his hair was tousled and his nose and ears were kissed pink from it too.

She whispered his name. His birth name. "Kaiser."

The name came as a gentle whisper from her lips, of course she couldn't see him, but little did she realise it sparked something else within him. The man lurched forward, gripping her chin tightly between his brute fingers till her skin dipped beneath his hold. His lips were so close to her ear that his venomous tone scorched her skin, forcing a pitiful whimper to erupt from her chest.

"Don't you ever fucking call me that again."

The German seethed lowly, hissing in her ear as he yanked her up by the throat. She muttered apologies to him, tripping on her words as tears threatened to soak into the blindfold covering her eyes. She had never heard him speak in such a vicious tone, it startled her, she kept as still as she could in his grasp. Kylo didn't move to stop Vicrul, nor did he utter a word, he had been the one to tell her to use such a name for his German friend. She knew now why he had done that, it was to rile him up. To goad such a reaction that would soon twine into punishing pleasure.

Vicrul released his grip on Danny's neck, letting her fall back onto her knees atop the couch.

"I'll allow you to have her just this once." Kylo's voice broke through the tension, his tone giving Vicrul the green light and confirming his suspicions of to what extent his little gift entailed.

"But don't think I won't gut you like a fish if I ever catch you sniffing around her when I'm absent." Kylo's voice growled in his chest, a low octave that was menacing and calculating all at once, it wouldensure that Vicrul did not stray from the path.

The raven haired killer was still slumped in his chair, his skin tacked in a slight sweat while his eyes watched the scene in front of him carefully. Vicrul moved slowly to begin with, watching Kylo rather then Kitten. "How do I know this isn't a trick?" He asked, his German tongue seeping through his tedious tone. His brother smiled wickedly, his tongue dancing over his sharp cuspids before he spoke. "The treat in front of you should speak for itself." Kylo's darkened humour wasn't so alarming, he nodded over towards Danny, seeing how her chest rose quickly as it began to shine with perspiration over the mounds of her pretty pert tits.

Before Vicrul could retort, he felt dainty fingers grip for his belt. His head snapped toward Danny, she had wrapped her fingers around the loop of his leather belt despite her wrists being bound together tightly in front of her, she was trying in her own way to lure him in, trap him. She didn't speak, she feared her voice may break and give away her nervousness. Vicrul glanced at Kylo once again, seeking the last ounce of permission he needed before he staked claim to what was his, just for tonight. He was met with another curt nod, a glass tumbler of whiskey that had been set on the table adjacent to where Kylo sat was now snug between his fingers. Empty.

Vicrul leered down, using his fingers to raise Danny's chin skywards, he couldn't see her eyes but he could imagine them. On how many occasions had he envisaged those same sea green eyes, either screwed shut in pleasure or teary from how his cock overstimulated her to the brink of uncomfortable pain. In other moments he had imagined them to be gentle and full of warmth, but sentiment was a fickle thing with Vicrul, he cared more about the carnality of it all. He raised her chin further, forcing her to jut out her neck towards him. He used it to his advantage, pressing his lips to her own unsuspecting ones. She didn't flinch this time, she ushered herself to press into him. Kylo had told her earlier not to fret or worry, she was to have as much fun tonight as Vicrul. He ensured she had a safe word, one she could use at any point if she urgently needed to.

But for right now, that safe word was lost to her, lost deep in the fabric of her mind. Vic didn't waste much time, his entire life was fast paced, sex was no different for him. Only he'd savour her more. He pushed his tongue past her teeth, coaxing her own wet muscle to tangle with his. Vicrul tasted like fermented tobacco and autumn breeze, the scent of the fallen leaves was woven right through the strands of his slicked hazel locks. He continued to kiss her, moving to untuck his shirt and argue with his belt, Danny slipped her tongue into his mouth and hummed in approval when one of his hands dropped to wrap around the width of her throat; squeezing ever so slightly. She would be surprised if his fingerprints weren't etched into her skin by the end of the night.

The man abandoned her mouth, nipping at her ear as he wretched his belt from his waistband.

"Let's see just how long you can keep up this quiet act Kitten." Vicrul still held a firm grip on her throat, using it to pull her forward so she was forced to topple off the sofa completely. The floor wasn't very forgiving on her knees, his hold around her neck had kept it from being too hard of a tumble, but it made her head dizzy. She wasn't kept thinking for long, Danny could smell Vicrul's musk lining the stark air, she licked her lips out of instinct and the chuckle that followed from his mouth only confirmed her suspicions. His fingers abandoned her neck and snatched her chin, gripping it so hard her jaw popped open from the force of it. Vicrul forced himself down her throat with little effort and little care for Danny's gag reflex, the sounds of her choking obscenely only spurred him on, shoving his red-angry cock further into her mouth so she drooled all over her own chin. It was wet and sloppy, sloshing noises of his dick ramming down her hot - wet throat. He pressed his fingers into the sides of her head, snapping his hips and bobbing her head in unison so he could explore every crevice of her silk - soft mouth. Danny tried to keep the tears back, humming and gagging on Vicrul's dick to increase the pleasure for him. His head was thrown back as he groaned obscenely, his throat exposed fully as he swore to the high heavens and back, because that's what Kitten's mouth felt like. Heaven.

The groaning was so loud, but mismatched, only then did Danny realise that it wasn't just the deep and guttural sounds leaving Vicrul's throat.

From across the room she could hear the wet smack of skin on skin that was followed by primal grunts of pleasure and approval. Kylo was touching himself. Pleasuring and jerking himself to the sight of his Kitten choking on another man's cock. Danny was in disbelief, but she persevered nonetheless, it felt better knowing that Kylo was enjoying it too. She could see it now, his head resting against the back of the armchair as his dark hair clouded his vision and tacked to his sweaty forehead, one of his brute hands jerking his cock while the other drew it's attention to his ballsack. The thought of it sent a flood of heat to Danny's cunt, pooling with wet and warmth there. That thought alone spurred her on, although her hands were bound she bought them upwards, attempting to grip the part of Vic's dick her mouth couldn't quite reach. "Such a greedy little slut Kitten. That's it, take it all."

Vic's hips snapped forward viscously, causing Danny to choke to the point the blindfold soaked up her strewn tears. That didn't stop her though, she continued to bob her head in rhythm, pumping his base in her palm along with it as she slid her tongue along the underside of his monster cock.

The German's breath hitched, another moan echoing in his chest. One of his large hands flew to the back of her head, burying his cock deep into the very back of her throat so her nose pressed into the trim tuft of dark pubic hair at his groin. His cum wasn't just warm, it was boiling hot, spurting and leaking down the length of her windpipe as he continued to drive his hips into her mouth relentlessly. Danny tried swirling her tongue, pressing a hand into his thigh to try and gain leverage from being choked too much. "Fuck." He stuttered, slowing the pace of his hips as he began to retreat from his high. With a wet slurp he pulled his cock from her mouth, but just as she was about to swallow the man stopped her. Snatching her throat in his grasp once more, one of his hands encompassed the front of her throat while the other held the back of her neck. "Open." He spat, jerking her head so she craned her neck as though she could look at him. Danny obliged shyly, opening her mouth wide enough for him to see right the way to the back of her soft throat. "Tongue out." The man seethed, yanking her a second time till she obeyed. She did as she was told, pushing the wet - cum-covered muscle from the depths of her mouth. Vicrul collected a wod of salvia on his own tongue, leaning down ever so slightly to spit it directly onto her waiting tongue. Danny would have reeled back if it weren't for the German's death grip on her throat.

Vicrul stepped around to the side, still keeping ahold of her neck with one of his hands as the other ripped the mask from her eyes harshly. Danny blinked rapidly, the room was dim and only lit by seasonal candles that reeked of pumpkin and cardamom, but the sight in front of her lit up her world and her aching cunt.

"Look at your little slut Ky, such a pretty mouth and it's full of my cum." Vic's words were followed by a dark and curt laugh, one of mocking, Danny was too busy staring ahead of her to notice his words.

Kylo was breathing heavily, his chest shallow and slick with a thick layer of sweat that was glowing in the half light. His cock was still hard and angry, peaking through his half shoved down slacks as his stark-white cum slithered down the side of it, his stomach was stained with the seed of his orgasm too. His words heaved from his chest, his tone still a slight slur from his whiskey. "You took his cock so well Kitten." Just like Vicrul had, the man laughed, mischievously. Vic yanked at her throat, forcing her to look at him again. "Swallow." Danny whined when he threw her down, her bound wrists struggling to keep her up. She obeyed again, her sore throat struggling to take all of him down.

Before Danny could even get her bearings again, she was wretched up by her hair, it twisted between Vic's fingers, causing Danny to hiss loudly from the pain. She stumbled to her feet, but she was still dwarfed by the man's height and width, she felt so small - standing limp and prostrate in his shadow. With her hair still woven in his grasp he used his other hand to pinch her jaw. "Show me you swallowed it all Kitten." He spat, using his thumb to scrape the remainders of his orgasm from her chin and around her lips, not waiting for her to open her mouth politely before he shoved his digit on top of her tongue roughly. The lustful glint of hunger in his eyes only burned brighter when she enveloped her tongue around his thumb, closing her lips around it and sucking lightly.

"What a good fucking girl." He growled deeply, dipping down and catching her lips with his, Vicrul's tongue didn't shy away from the taste of his own orgasm that lined her mouth, he savoured it.

Danny squeaked when Vic turned the two of them, his back crashing into the couch as he pulled her down with him. The girl moved too fast, she took a hint that wasn't there, throwing her legs over the width of Vicrul's hips. The German stopped her by pinching her nipple hard between his thick fingers, twisting it so her bound hands tried to grip for his wrist as she squealed in pain.

"So eager to be fucked on my cock Kitten, slow down." His voice was mocking again, not caring as he continued to enforce pain on her breasts. He only dropped his hand from her nipple so that he could pat his right thigh, mockingly making a gesture of dusting it off with the backs of his wide fingers.

Danny had never done that before, a blush crept over her cheeks, despite the fact she had sucked his cock and swallowed his cum not even a few minutes prior to his new request.

Instead of Vicrul's voice calling to her, it was Kylo's.

"Don't make him start counting Kitten. You won't be so quiet if I'm forced intervene." He mused, Danny had thought he would step in sooner then this, but he didn't. Not even when pain was inflicted. 

She focused her eyes on Vic again, his smirk was enough to make anyone wet, she felt her cunt ache.

Danny leant forwards, straddling Vic's thigh as his hands flew to grip her hips tightly. She didn't realise how useful her hands were when they weren't bound together, she had to press the heels of her palms into the German's chest to keep her own balance.

The ashen-blonde lowered her clothed cunt to the rough texture of Vic's slacks, grinding herself up and down his thigh languidly, she bit her lip to keep herself quiet.

She cried out when Vicrul pinched her clit harshly through her panties, not letting up even when she squirmed fitfully. "We want to hear you, don't be so shy now." The man had leant forwards to rasp the words against the the shell of her ear, still loud enough for Kylo to hear as the German glanced over and caught his eye sharply. Danny nodded meekly, her lip falling from it's restraint between her teeth as she continued to ride the man's thigh.

Vicrul chuckled, the sound never leaving his throat as he kept his lips shut tight. He rested his weight against the back of the couch, allowing himself a full view of Kitten as she worked herself on top of him. Despite his warning, she was unconsciously keeping her mewls and moans to herself, Danny's fingers gripped Vic's shirt collar to pull herself further up and down the strong tower of muscle bunched beneath his skin.

Suddenly, Danny's head whipped to the side, her cheek raw and burning. The German snatched her chin in his hand, pinching his fingers into her skin again. "Keep being quiet Kitten and I'll give you something to really fucking scream about." His words were hissed through his teeth, spittle flying from his lips as he pushed her face away from him harshly. It shouldn't have sparked something in her, she should have felt hurt, belittled. But his tone only made her cunt burn for more friction, her insides were screaming for attention. Vicrul squared his shoulders and stretched his arms over the back of the couch, getting comfortable and enjoying his personal show. He would pretend that Kylo didn't exist, Kitten was here for him and only him, no one else. He could play pretend just for tonight.

Danny continued to grind herself on his thigh, it seemed she didn't even care to imagine the mess she was making of his impeccably pressed suit trousers. She could see just how excited he was by her movements, she had to remind herself not to reach out and touch him. For fear of being told off.

"Touch yourself, go on." The man's voice was low, clearly struggling to keep a handle on himself at this point as he clenched his pearly teeth. She obeyed, bringing her hands to her cunt and using her daintyfingers to push aside her panties. It took little effort, but again her bound hands didn't make it easier. Danny began running tight circles around her clit, bucking and jerking her hips as the new sensation of pleasure rolled through her body in thick waves, cresting at the seams. Vic groaned, bumping his thigh up and down with the tap of his foot. Danny's eyes were screwed shut, hot and heavy breathes rolling past her lips as she whined and mewled his name. "Kitten." When her eyes snapped open, Kylo was there, his body looming over the back of the couch as his face was merely inches from hers. For a moment she stilled, adrenaline spiking her blood when his fingers edged closer and closer to her. "Don't stop now Kitten, I'm enjoying the view." He growled down at her, moving his face away from her when she dared to leer forward and to try to kiss him.

"You've been such a disobedient little slut, you won't get a reward from me so easily." Kylo's pearly teeth seemed to glow red in the half light, burning festive candles were the only thing allowing Danny's vision to not be completely cut away. Danny furrowed her brow, still trying her to best to move herself up and down the length of Vicrul's thigh. She moved to speak but thick calloused digits prevented her from doing so. Kylo shoved two of his fingers into her mouth, pushing them down and back over her palate so she gagged. More tears welled in her eyes from the intrusion, the remains of cum around her lips and still on her chin didn't make her feel any less embarrassed.She tried to utter his name but it was useless, lost on the air, Danny must have looked a mess. Covered in cum while she rode Vicrul's thigh and gagged on Kylo's fingers, when Kylo had mentioned making Vicrul's Halloween one to remember. Danny's imagination didn't come nearly as close as this.

"I can feel how wet you are Kitten, that's it, keep playing with that pretty little pussy." It was clear Vicrul was losing his grip, the man had to fist the couch cushions between his brute fingers just to keep himself steady. Kylo however, he was made of harder stuff, as much as he enjoyed being inside of Kitten; he could wait that little bit longer. The wait made the chase all the more worth it, like a wolf stalking a lamb, ready to pounce.

The more Danny rocked herself the closer she was bringing herself to the edge, it had been so long since she'd made herself cum, Kylo had taken that job upon himself since the day they met. Her own fingers felt foreign against her clit, pressing the pads of her fingers till they pushed deeper and deeper into her cunt. She hadn't seen it coming. The pure white bliss that seared her eyes and burnt her gut was nauseatingly delicious. Out of habit she found herself calling out Kylo's name around his fingers that still sat atop her tongue, squealing and whining incoherent words as her orgasm rocked through her. She began to fall from her high, her little hollow chest heaving as she gulped down greedily on air.

Vicrul might have told her to be louder, but the scornful glare he wore told Danny that she had made a big mistake calling for another man. His hands snatched for her panties, tearing them with a distressed shriek of torn fabric.

Danny was grateful for how wet she was, when Vic's fingers curled hastily inside of her pussy she swore her vision grew dark at the edges. She was barely out of her first orgasm before he forced her into another one, the man was now sitting forward and curling and burying his digits within her. She tried to push his wrist away but he was too solid, too wrapped up in his own way of punishing her for calling Kylo's name instead of his. The raven haired man had been pushed out of the equation, quite literally as Vic snatched her away and finger-fucked her to the point her eyes rolled and her jaw hung slack. Kylo didn't let it bother him, in any other circumstance, Vic would have lost his head from his shoulders, but right now; Kylo felt so fucking smug.

She had called his name - like the good Kitten she was.

"Say my name. Fucking say it, slut." While his right hand forced her to ride his fingers, Vicrul's left hand had found it's way around her throat, squeezing the sides with the harsh force of his digits. Danny gasped and spluttered, the lack of oxygen beginning to send her lips pale. That didn't matter to Vicrul, not until he heard his name. The ashen-blonde tried to speak, her words hushed and hoarse from her weak throat. Her fingernails were no doubt leaving crescent moon shapes in the skin of Vic's wrist, even then his hold on her neck didn't soften. "Say my name again instead Kitten, I wanna see how far he goes." Danny hoped it was the whiskey pumping through his veins talking, Kylo was usually so possessive and unruly. Tonight he was throwing caution to the wind, hoping that Vicrul snapped and devoured her. Just so he could watch the scene unfold before him. And enjoy every minute of it he would.

"V-Vic...I - a-ah!" Danny hissed as her orgasm ripped her to shreds, the shards of her consciousness beginning to break and fracture. He was overstimulating her, the pleasure mixed with a annoying pain that gnawed at her spine, she wanted to twist away from him and avoid his fingers and cigarette-ash breath. But she couldn't, his grip on her neck dropped as soon as she hushed his name, instead he wrapped his arm around her waist; pulling her so their chests crashed. Danny couldn't help but fuck herself on his hand, his fingers were curling at an angle inside her that hit all the right spots. Her dainty fingers went for his collar again, pulling him as close as he could get. Her actions caused Vicrul to growl in his throat, moving his fingers even faster to pump in and out of her even through her spine-numbing orgasm.

Danny felt like her lungs had shrunken to raisins, it hurt to breath, it hurt to blink. She hadn't even noticed Vic's fingers retreat from her soaked cunt, her ears were numb and so were her other senses.

It felt like her eyes couldn't focus on just one face, Vic was so close but Kylo was stood not even a metre behind the couch. The raven haired man simply observed, with his hands buried deep in his trouser pockets as he watched his best friend finger fuck his little Kitten. Danny had almost forgotten he was even there, it seemed tonight he would do more watching the participating.

How wrong she was to think that.

Danny's and Vicrul's chests were huffing in unison, she was splayed on her front as her tits crushed them selves to the German's sharp Cartier shirt.

"You did so good Kitten, so fucking good."

Another dark chuckle echoed from his chest and travelled through hers, her lungs were still heaving on empty. She pressed her forehead to his chest, exhaling deeply and closing her eyes. Danny couldn't help but flinch when he pinched her ass, kneading the flesh in one of his hefty palms. The German cleared his throat, needing her full attention. She looked up at him, those pretty sea green eyes of hers were teary and slightly red, Vic thought they looked even brighter in the candle light. Vic traced his index finger along the corner of her mouth, over her Cupid's bow and settled it finally against her lips. She knew what was coming already, so she humoured him, popping open her mouth and rolling out her tongue to display it for him. That same look of darkened hunger hung in his irises, sparking bright orange as he watched her lips move. He pressed his digits on her tongue, immediately she could taste herself on his fingers, she'd tasted it before, Kylo was no stranger to that sort of thing.

Danny hummed, relieved with how gentle he was being with her now. She wrapped her fingers around his wrist, putting on her own display and sucking his fingers further into her mouth. Vicrul had been painfully hard since she'd first sat in his lap, he'd already cum once but that wouldn't be enough to sate him tonight, not even in the slightest.

Danny popped the German's fingers out of her mouth with a wet smack and content sigh, wiping her lips with the back of her still bound hands.

Her fingers were starting to go numb from the lack of blood flow, but again she didn't dare to try and raise the subject, she knew a punishment would be in order. Instead she stayed still, her legs remained straddling Vic's thigh as she waited with anticipation bubbling in her belly.

The man finally moved, leaning forward to capture her lips in his, the man was languid and methodical. Perhaps a reward for saying his name in such a fashion. However, the gentle moment was cut short, Kylo's voice and brutish hands shunning the silence.

He was behind Kitten now, effortlessly leaning down so his chest was flush to her spine, with one little whisper; she fell apart. "The sooner I'm inside you Kitten, the better." He rasped the words into the shell of her ear, his still alcohol lined breath travelling across her cheek. The man ran one of his hands from over her shoulder, letting it fall between the valley of her breasts and travel down her stomach. Danny couldn't help but lean upwards, breaking away from Vic and shifting backwards against Kylo's body.

Vicrul was swift however, he spread his knees further apart and pulled Danny's opposite thigh so she was now straddling his trim waist, sat right on top of his evident - growing need for her cunt. Between her back being flush to Kylo's chest and her hips meeting with Vicrul's, Danny was overwhelmed. It felt like her nerve endings were on fire, searing and boiling to the point where she wouldn't feel anything if this carried on. Her head was craned back, her eyes meeting swirling orbs of blood red crimson, Kylo was feral tonight: different. She heard the metal buckle of Vic's trouser clasp and the zip that followed it, but nevertheless she kept her eyes on Kylo, she found herself lost in those eyes of his.

When the blunt head of Vicrul's cock pressed into her cunt she took a deep breath, eyes screwing shut as her brows furrowed in a mixture of the faint pain and pure bliss. It wasn't such a warm gesture as Kylo held her still, if anything; it was very much the opposite. He could hold her down and take a closer look, watch diligently as his pretty little slut took her first German cock so well. When Vic humped his hips upwards and finally sheathed himself all the way deep inside of her, the two of them let out their sounds, mixtures of praised grunts and pleased moans danced across the warmed air. Unknowingly, Danny tried to raise herself up on her knees, away to escape the overexertion of taking all of Vic's cock so deep and so soon. But Kylo was there, still with his arm draped over her shoulder and across her front, pressing his weight into her back to make sure she didn't try and squirm away. "Fuck, so fucking good Danny. You feel so fucking good." The German groaned loudly, his jaw hanging slack as his moans ripped through his throat and tore through the air.

He had no shame in letting his pleasure be known, he was always so loud in everything else he did, why would fucking Kitten be any different?

"Be a good girl now, fuck yourself on his cock."

Kylo pressed his nose into the side of her hair, growling his words as he nipped at the shell of Danny's ear.

She whined something but the words were too high of a pitch to be understood, she chose to balance her hands on Vicrul's stomach, forcing herself to push her weight up and off of him; only to let herself fall onto his dick again. "You're being quiet again Kitten, it's almost like you want to be punished, do you?" Kylo was still at her ear, guiding her body as she set a steady pace as she rode Vic's cock. The wet sloshing of his dick entering in and out of her soaking cunt sent Danny's cheeks a plush red, that sound added with Vicrul's growls of praise were enough to send her dizzy. She shook her head violently, no longer biting her tongue as she let her mewls slip past her lips. Danny arched her spine, pushing her body away from Kylo as she began riding Vic harder and faster, the man's voice was hoarse and strained, his fingers grabbed for her hips; jutting his own hips upwards to further deepen his strokes.

Danny yelped, a deep moan echoing from her own chest as her fingers wrapped tightly into Vicrul's shirt. Danny wasn't one to speak much during sex, she left the filthy mouthing off to Kylo usually, but she couldn't help but feel like the mood was set.

She didn't know where to begin, she didn't want to ruin things by sounding silly or fake. She began with letting her pleasure be known to both men, her voice was louder, her moans now traveling through the vicinity of the first floor. "Much better." The raven haired man kept his voice low, muttering in her ear as he snaked his hand further down her stomach, his fingers on a clear path to where she didn't know she needed him most. The immense shudder that ruptured through her spine was a mixture of unbearable pain and ungodly pleasure, it wracked Danny's bones and set her cunt on fire. Kylo's fingers drew down over her cleft and worked along her clit all the while Vicrul still speared his cock heavily up into her tight cunt as she continued to ride him, or at least she tried to.

"Fuck." The curse fell like honey from Danny's lips, occasionally hissing through her teeth when Kylo and Vicrul synced their ministrations.

"Doing so good Kitten, bouncing yourself on his cock like that. Such a filthy little slut." Kylo growled into her ear, nipping at the lobe sharply with his teeth. The more he spoke, the further and further he pushed her into her third orgasm of the night. Danny felt herself tighten around Vic's girth, her cunt tensing and her clit buzzing when Kylo didn't cease the skilful talent of his fingers against her.

Uncharacteristically, Vicrul was quiet, save for his unmuted groans and praises, he didn't spew vulgar comments or hurtful slurs. He was too wrapped up in Kitten's cunt, the way she sucked him in deeper, her slick pussy walls squeezing him for everything he had. Danny's thighs felt like they were being seared with hot iron, her muscles cramping and screaming as her spine straightened and her whole body spasmed violently. Her next orgasm sent her paralysed, limp limbs falling against Vic's chest as Kylo leant forward and didn't allow her to escape his fingers.

The feeling was overwhelming. Danny tried again to balance herself on her knees to evade Vicrul's strokes, but Kylo didn't allow her to escape.

"T-too much. Please." She begged with the two men. They were pushing and pulling her through each orgasm, barely letting her out of one before they plunged her cruelly into the next. Her eyes were streaming and her ears numb, she felt weak, if not for Kylo keeping her stationed she would have been a limp mess pooled in Vic's lap.

"I-I can't. Please Kylo." Danny's voice was barely there, just a whisper laced between heavy breaths and moans. Kylo's bare sweat-tacked chest was at her back, him pressing into her and inhaling deeply into the crook of her neck. He didn't speak, it seemed he knew what was coming before Danny did.

He used his big - brute fingers to grasp her chin tightly, pulling her to face forward so she was forced to meet the sight of Vicrul beneath her, her blaring eyes forced to watch how Vic's cock spurred in and out of her slick - creamy wetness as it lapped and squeezed from her close-to-sore cunt; she was everywhere. A dripping creamy mess all over Vic's dick and her own thighs.

The German's hips grew sporadic, his thrusts striking deeper but slower, his fingers gripping her hips and flesh so hard she knew for a fact it would bruise for days to come. With one last deep piston of his hips, he released himself in her cunt. Danny felt his cum spurt in hot-thick ropes as each vein and rib of his cock rubbed at her soaking - slick pussy walls, it made her shudder. The three of them were still for a moment, Kylo keeping his hands on Danny at all times while she propped herself up on Vicrul's chest by her palms, the German simply tried to gain his bearings back. Slouched on his back with a gorgeous little thing still sitting so obediently on his cock, he looked down to where their anatomies joined, seeing his own seed seep from the tight confines of her slick - creaming pussy and watching it leak onto his dark suit slacks.

It was no secret. Danny was spent already. Sore and overdone as her muscles still spasmed and bunched beneath her pale - butter soft skin, she kept her fingers fisted tightly in the fabric of Vicrul's shirt, her nails no doubt digging past into his skin beneath the rich cotton. Kylo's warmth was still at her back.

It had never left. Vic had ridden her through her orgasm with his cock but Kylo's fingers insured she stayed riding that cresting wave of pleasure till the last delicious second, milking the bone - shattering sensation for every ounce it could give. His breath was fogging the side of her throat, his fingers still ghosting her hips and stomach as he patiently waited for her body to stop shivering. Then Kylo's lips moved further upwards, his teeth worrying the shell of Danny's ear before he whispered something lowly, perhaps hoping only she would hear.

"Such a good girl Kitten. Riding his dick so well, but I prefer it when it's me burying my cock in that perfect little cunt of yours." He rasps his words. His whiskey breath mingling across her cheek and fogging her skin, that's how close he is. Skin to skin. The side of his temple trapping his damp sweat-tacked hair to her cheek as he mouthed lowly.

Vicrul had hissed through his teeth when he felt Danny's pussy clench at the mention of Kylo's words, her cunt already burning for more despite the German still sitting so deeply inside of her.

"Best pussy going." Vicrul growled breathlessly, shifting his weight so he sat straighter, his chest coming into contact with Danny's so her tits pushed up against his crisp shirt. Kylo loomed closer, Danny couldn't see it but his eyes were devilishly sharp, cutting through the German like carved flint.

"Shame it belongs to someone else." Kylo retorted, kissing and suckling dark bruises into Danny's pale throat as she squirmed in the German's lap.

Vicrul grumbled in his chest, making a point to stutter his him upwards, causing Danny to gasp.

Kylo had snatched her after that. Literally ripping her from Vic's hips as her cunt burned and ached from the loss of being stuffed so full and deep.

She whined at the loss, whimpering as she was turned around like a weightless rag doll in Kylo's hold.

Danny was hauled across the room, deposited down roughly into the arm chair Kylo was previously sat in to enrich himself in his voyeuristic ways, her tits bounced and her thighs clenched tight when his hands immediately flew to his slacks. They were already undone and unzipped but he shoved them down further, his leaking purple-red cock wagging free as he sighed in bliss. Danny's eyes weren't drawn to the monstrous thing hanging between Kylo's thighs, she was drawn to his eyes, they were blown wide and hungry. Swimming with lust and spinning with need as his smirk grew across his lips. She hadn't realised Vic was there, stood merely a few feet behind Kylo as he observed her.

Danny had no idea what she must have looked like. All sweaty and debaunched with her cunt front and centre for both men's eyes to devour, her thighs spread wide from where Kylo had thrown her down with force. She was too prostrate to move, sweaty chest still heaving as she tried to catch her breath.

The raven haired killer moved to the side, seemingly sidestepping in slow motion to Danny's dull eyes. Like a predator stalking prey, moving carefully as not to make even a hinting peep of noise. Watching. Waiting to pounce. He rounded the armchair, stopping to the right of Danny's timid little body. She gazed up at him through wet lashes, her lips parted as she drank in every delicious detail of the man looming dangerously over her. He was magnificent in this light. The candles flaring his alabaster skin a deep amber, flames flickering and casting shadows over every inch of muscle that mapped his strong abdomen and torso. Like a Grecian god torn right from the myths of the old time. Like Hades standing proud; watching over the poor souls he was bid to judge and charge and criticise.

Kylo had a wicked idea. Danny knew it from the flare of filthy lust swirling through his golden irises.

He stepped closer, his heavy feet slapping the floor as he moved, he craned his neck over to where Vicrul stood, still transfixed with mapping and remembering every detail of Danny's features and body; because after tonight - that's all it would be.

Remembering.

The older man clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, catching attention. His left hand slipped easily into the back of Danny's hair, his fingers weaving and tightening through the silk-smooth strands of ashen locks. With a squeak falling from her lips - Danny's head was yanked back. Her throat jutting out as her neck was exposed fully, she swallowed thickly, eyes darting the room to look at both men in quick turns. Kylo was quick to swoop down, humming against her skin as his hand drew up her thigh and across over her cleft - only to trace back down over her opposite thigh. She shivered, whining again as he didn't give into what she truly wanted.

Any part of him inside her would have sufficed.

The man snapped his neck back over to his German counterpart, eyeing him carefully. "How about you keep my greedy slut satisfied while I stuff her little mouth full of my cock, hmm?" Vicrul didn't need asking or telling twice, he licked his lips in anticipation. Practically leaping at the chance to bury his face in Kitten's perfect little cunt. He was on his knees before her in a flash of chestnut hair and deep steely eyes, those same irises bleeding through Danny's resolve as he stared up at her intently. Shifting himself so he stood on his knees and stretched his strong thighs. 

Both men were moving. It was hard to focus.

But Danny was soon snapped back to the moment when she heard Kylo shift, the velvet skin of his cock skimming wet through his palm as he thrust it towards her lips. Pre-cum smattered across her cheek but Danny didn't hesitate to open her mouth wide, her bound hands thrusting downward into the cushioned fabric as she tried her best to come nearer to him. Jutting out her neck so her soft lips wrapped with ease around the girth of his leaking cock,

he was aching for her, his cock more then ready and waiting for the warm - wet encompass of her angelic mouth and/orpussy.

Kylo groaned loudly. It was pure fucking bliss.

Her mouth was wet and warm, slick and already full of another man's cum. He was perfectly content with that fact, for he knew deep down in his chest, no other man would ever have her the way he had her.

Kitten was his to keep. To fuck whenever and wherever he wanted, he held her close at night and fucked her awake the next morning.

Vic would never have that with her, just like nobody else would.

Kylo Ren had ruined Danny for any other man.

The ashen-blonde whimpered around Kylo's dick when she felt hot-calloused palms pushing her thighs apart, Vicrul's Dominican tobacco breath fanning warm over her clammy pale skin as he leered closer and closer to her cunt.

Danny practically squealed when his teeth and lips began to suck welts into her soft flesh, marks and bruises littering the insides of her thighs and above her cleft so she would be forced to wear them for days to come.

A throbbing reminder of what had transpired on this Halloween night. She would wear them with pride.

Kylo's hips never ceased. His musk now lining her chin and breath as he continued to fuck himself into her hot - waiting mouth. He loved how she tried so hard for him. Using her nimble hands and fingers to grope and fondle him despite them being numb and bound together.

Danny had grown bold as of late. Asking for things during sex that he thought she never would. Kylo would never give up control completely, it would only take so long for Danny to ride him before he lost patience and flipped her onto her back to screw her senseless into the crisp-cotton sheets below.

Sometimes he would let her guide the way, nurturing her confidence so she grew bolder and hungrier for new and more adventurous things. He loved it.

Kylo loved how she looked right now. So desperate and helpless. Covered in sweat and spit and cum and utterly used already. He could see in her eyes that she was tired already, yes he made her cum more times then she could count on the regular, but the added adrenaline of another man being here had punched the stamina right out of her. Like a wrecking ball of pleasure to the gut each time they ripped her through more tsunamis of pleasure and pain in turn. Despite all of that. Danny kept trying.

Her fingers grasped at Kylo's ball sack as she squeezed, her tongue running further down his cock as she tried will all her might to take all of him.

If Danny thought taking all of him down there was a task, she had been sorely mistaken. She could barely take him halfway into her mouth before tears began to well unwontedly, she fought the urge to gag and cough when he prodded at the back of her throat.

But Danny knew he liked this, Kylo loved that fact that she struggled to take all of him, she'd lost count of how many times he would sneer down at her when they fucked, muttering and whispering into her ear about how hot it was that he stroked her cervix and yet he still had more inches to give.

That thought alone made her thighs clench.

Just when Danny thought she was safe,

Vicrul's tongue ventured out to play, tracing down from her belly button - over her mound and finally striking right into her already soaking cunt.

The German didn't fight the urge to moan, having his mouth on her didn't compare to simply licking her juices from his fingers. Now he was tongue deep. Lapping at every ounce of cum and juice that Danny's sweet little pussy had to offer, she was dripping and whining. Vicrul growled when she jerked too much, his muscle pressing deeper inside of her and only making her squirm more as she tried to focus on sucking off Kylo. She yelped when his teeth sank harshly around her clit, making her sore lungs leap into her throat. "Keep still sweetheart." He rumbled lowly, Danny had made the mistake of meeting his eye, her cunt clenching around his tongue as his irises burned straight through her skin. He looked sinister like this; on his knees, shaded by the glowing candle flame as his eyes sliced and ripped through her body. She may have been above him, literally, but she had never felt so intimated before; even Kylo didn't strike such a sense of uneasiness within her. Vicrul could very well do some damage, if he so felt like it, Danny didn't know.

He continued to slurp and eat at her, letting his tongue trace over every crevice and curve of her pussy. Not an inch was undiscovered by his mouth.

Meanwhile, Kylo was growing irritated, he was twelve inches deep in her throat and yet, Danny was still focusing on the German knelt so obediently between her knees. He didn't like that.

He would fix that. Kylo would make sure all her attention was on him and only him, for now, and for however long it took before they both withered.

His long and thick fingered moved to encompass her throat, wrapping around the width of her dainty neck and squeezing at the sides. Gripping. Testing.

Kylo didn't loosen his grasp, even when he heard her wheeze around the girth of his dick. He kept fast.

Rutting his hips and watching her cheeks hollow as he rammed his cock further and further into her struggling throat, that made her look, her eyes were glued to his. Pleading and hoping that he would let up before she passed out from the lack of oxygen to her weak little lungs. Danny focused on his eyes more then anything else, letting her numb tongue press up into his underside and shivering as she felt his hips stutter. Kylo's eyes were wild. Not with lust. But something else, something foreign. Danny didn't let her self be torn away from her task however, and it seemed that Vicrul had picked up on Kylo's little game. He growled, it vibrated through the lips of Danny's cunt and she whined, the man reeled back; his chin and lips wet and glistening in her cream as he smirked wildly. Vicrul pursed his lips, spitting harshly and filthily into her pussy before he dove straight back in. She couldn't help but scream around the length of her lover when Vicrul happened to stroke his tongue into her just right, hitting a certain spot that had become so familiar to Kylo's cock. Danny came again. Hard. Crying out for god rather then either men inside of her at that moment. Kylo let his fingers loosen to better hear her cries, those sounds ripping from her throat had set him well on his way to cumming.

It took him by surprise. How desperate he felt.

Chasing his hips into her mouth as she sputtered and cried and whimpered around him.

It felt fucking good. Danny was heaven on Earth.

Every single fucking inch of her was.

The raven haired killer threw his head back, groaning loudly as he spilled himself deep in her throat, coating her tongue in his cum and musk.

The sensation was only bettered by the fact she was still cumming too, Vic still had his tongue shoved deep in her pussy, lapping and slurping at her while she quivered and tried to squirm away from him; much to no avail. Her throat was raw and vibrating even still as Kylo finished, attempting to catch his laboured breath. Feeding oxygen to his heaving chest. His fingers found her cheek, stroking over it with the backs of his fingertips as he watched her face crumple and fall through the waves of her euphoria. Kylo found her so irresistible like that.

He just couldn't help himself when he dipped his head down, fingers pinching her cheeks as he crashed his lips to hers. All tongue and teeth as he bled his emotions into their filthy kiss.

This was a reward. A gift for being such a good girl.

Danny melted right into him, her hands coming up so her fingers could brush along his jaw and draw down to his chin. Keeping him there a little longer.

Vicrul had finished his meal. Still sat high on his knees as he watched his best friend gift Kitten one of the filthiest kisses he'd ever seen. It was all emotion. Tied together with sentiment and something stronger then simply lust. They meant something significant to each other behind just ceaseless fucking. Vicrul could see that clear as day.

Danny broke her lips away from Kylo's, heaving and swallowing together. "I-I might need a minute."

Her little voice was so meek and timid. Even though she'd just taken their cocks and tongues so well.

She was still shy. Still a little unsure of herself.

Vicrul rose to stand. His shadow mapping with Kylo's to trap Danny in darkness, like a haunting nightmare bought to life, much like Freddie Kruger reaping souls in the night-lands, stealing and pillaging his way through innocence.

Because that's what Danny was. The purified picture of true innocence and kindness, ruined and covered in cum yet still so angelic to the men stood above.

Kylo crouched, his nose barely an inch from hers.

"A minute. And not a fucking second longer Kitten."

His voice was a low snarl, but it was playful all the same, his hand reaching over the arm of the chair as his fingers dipped into the top of her black thigh high socks. Kylo squeezed the flesh, admiring how her pale skin paired so well with the dark fabric hugging her ample thighs.

Both men admired Danny's efforts to stand alone with humour, pushing herself up on bound hands using the arm rest of the chair to come to her feet. She didn't stay there for long however, Kylo caught on quickly, within seconds of her knees and thighs shaking he scooped her up with little effort.

Hoisting her up by the waist so she was over his shoulder, his arm looped at the backs of her knees as his other hand landed a firm slap to the naked flesh of her ass.

She squeaked at that. Her eyes locking with Vicrul's as he followed closely behind Kylo, matching his strides and knowing exactly where he was headed. Danny's hands barely reached to the lower half of Kylo's spine as they dangled limply, it always amazed her just how large and powerful he was.

Wide in his muscled frame and tall like the true embodiment of a fantasy god. Tall and flawless.

Danny flexed her fingers as she was carried through the hallway - ascending some stairs before another hallway was passed through. She had never seen the entirety of Vicrul's home, she tried to focus on the details and structure as Kylo bounded through it. But she didn't catch onto much. Vic's smirk was still front and centre, the moonlight bleeding through edged window and casting of the bleached walls only illuminated it further. The girl startled when Kylo nudged the door with his hip, jerking her as he went.

The same thing happened as it had before, Kylo threw Danny onto the bed, not caring much as she almost bounced over and off the other side. She was glad that Vicrul's bed was comfier then the armchair. It was soft and plush. Not doubt donning a high four figure price tag. His room reminded her a lot of Kylo's, his was also devoid of any sentiments or pleasantries, more for just existing rather then actually living in. It was sharp and white with black accents. A metal frame bed that was geometric and modern, a long closet that took up the entirety of one of the lengthy walls. A classic pad for a classic man. It was scentless and clean. Barely even lived in.

The ashen-blonde made the mistake of trying to crawl to her hands and knees, a growl echoed from Kylo's throat, letting her know she was to wait for instruction. "You don't even know how I want you yet, so eager to ride my cock aren't you, Kitten?"

He teased, looming closer and closer as one of his knees stabbed into the plush mattress. Danny threw away the shyness she felt prior, a meek nod replacing her words as she met his lust filled eyes. He smirked wider, licking across his cuspids playfully. "I wanna hear you say it Kitten." He pressed, knowing she would cave for him.

She always did. His hands were on her now, pulling her knees from underneath her so her spine was pressed into the mattress below. Within a second he was hovering over her, his looming presence always there, his eyes were dark again and his mouth was practically salivating. Knowing what was cumming.

Kylo had caged Danny between his arms, her head resting between his giant palms that were placed flat against the bed sheets. It was then that the girl heard something ruffle the corner of the mattress, she dared herself not to look but her curious eyes betrayed her. Darting away from Kylo's for not even a millisecond to snatch a glimpse of the other body in the room. Vicrul was bare chested, matching Kylo now as he lit the end of a cigarette that was snug between his lips. Of course his eyes had never left her though, all the while he lit his smoke and took the longest - filthiest drag, he watched her.

Danny could see the clamminess of his chest from where she laid, strewn beneath a hulking killer, it was only now that Danny could see each and every one of the intricate artworks needled for eternity into his fair skin. Some were tasteless while others were fine and detailed, all black - no colour.

They were all him.

The girl didn't get to indulge her eyes for very long.

Kylo was above her, she wouldn't forget it, but he wanted all her attention when they were like this.

Every last fucking inch of it. Not even an ounce could be spared for his German counterpart, only when it was Vicrul's turn with her could she enamour herself with him. Now it was Kylo's turn.

The raven haired man easily balanced his weight on one palm, using the other hand to stroke his fingers down over Danny's cheek. She flinched. Eyes darting to his in wide open fright. She was like a deer caught in headlights, her little chest struggling to keep up with the hammering of her heart against her ribcage.

Her pulse didn't stutter, not even when his hand continued to fall, his fingers easily wrapping around her dainty throat. Her lungs were drying.

Struggling to feed themselves oxygen as her eyes threatened to roll back in her skull. "Say it."

He seethed downwards. His lips brushing against her cheek as he drew down. Danny groaned.

The sound barely rasping from her throat as he squeezed. "I w-want you." She managed.

Gulping against Kylo's hand after she'd spoken.

His eyes hardened. Irises like blackened pits of venom knocked back into his skull.

"What do you want?" He asked dryly.

The man's smirk never falling as he did. 

Danny closed her eyes tightly. Gasping against Kylo's hold as he continued to constrict her neck, only clamping down tighter the longer it took her to reply.

"You're a mess for me already, aren't you Kitten?" Kylo rasped hotly. His spiced whiskey breath fanning down her cheek and over her neck as he neared closer and closer. "Yes. Y-yes!" She squeaked. Rutting her hips upwards as she started to squirm.

That alone had Kylo smirking even wider. He shoved his knee further up the mattress, the textured fabric of his slacks rubbing harshly against Danny's naked cunt, she was soaked. A mixture of her own cum along with Vicrul's still laced between her thighs.

A sticky - tacky - wet mess. Soon to be even messier.

Kylo's lips whispered against Danny's sternum, lapping at her sweat and perfume he found there. The man let go of her throat, tracing his fingers down the length of her neck and over her collar bones. His big hand moulded her clothed breast to his palm, squeezing and pinching the flesh how he saw fit. Danny was writhing under him. Pushing herself into his hold in a bid for more,

she was greedy for him. Needed him. And now.

With the hook of a strong finger, Kylo pulled the fabric that was threaded together between her tits, the flimsy lingerie snapping easily by his hand.

Danny winced, sighing afterward as her body was relieved of the constricting garment. Her sighs of content soon morphed into moans, Kylo's tongue and teeth wrapping around her pebbled nipples to suck and bite everything but gently. His cock was already hard, it had been since he'd began ascending the stairs with Danny in tow. He could feel it pressing against her thigh through his slacks, hard and red and needy for her. Kylo was quick to give in.

The man was relentless when he shoved down his trousers, his boxers with them as he got his cock to hand. That wouldn't be enough. It would never be enough. Not when he had Kitten beneath him.

He teased her at first. This was Kylo. 'Course he did. Letting the length of his cock tease through her swollen pussy lips as she bit her lip in retaliation.

It was everything. His smell. His cock. His body.

It was all too much. The low octave of his voice as he deftly plunged into her cunt, the way the corded muscles bunched in his neck as he tried to hold back.

He was a swirling mass of destruction and death.

But with Danny. It was anything but that.

The danger lurked there, but it was more tamed, more precise. Used for pleasure rather then actual pain. Kylo used it in ways he never had before, in ways he had never needed to. It was welcome.

He couldn't help the way his hand was drawn to her throat, it just fit so perfectly there. Snatching her breath as he pounded into her pussy and trapped her hips to the bed with his own. He was fucking the air right out of her lungs, rutting and pushing it away.

Kitten had the nerve to try and push him away, her cunt burning and sore from the abuse it had endured. It was just too much - too quick, she was motioning him to slow. But Ren didn't see it that way. Her palms had rested flat against his stomach for all of three seconds before he ripped them away, snatching the binds in his fingers and bending her arms awkwardly so they were pinned above her head. The initial pain made Danny hiss, but then her moans escaped, he continued to fuck her. Driving his hips into her cunt in a way he knew would have her unravelling. She stuttered nonsense. Babbling random shit as Kylo pressed his hips lower, stroking deeper inside the velvety walls of her pussy that was so wet and dripping for him. "It's so easy to fluster you baby, I love that I do this to you." He growled, rutting harder to punctuate his words. Danny nodded her head, still spewing incoherent words as she whined in agreement. He was fucking the sense out of her. Giving her no choice but to agree with him. Dumbification if he'd ever seen it.

It didn't help that Kylo was well on his way to intoxication. It only fulled his appetite. Slowing his body and his pulse but sparking that darkness in his chest, alcohol always did that for him. Took the edge away and skimmed off the edges so he was able to sink his sharp teeth right into the core of his deeds. With sex, it was no different, he didn't give Danny the pleasure of being teased open with his tongue or fingers; and nor did he care when he was like this.

She was lucky Vicrul had been the one to take her first, he was somewhat gentler, a more humane approach to the way he proceeded with things.

Kylo's palm proceeded to cave into her neck, no doubt leaving marks as he pressed further and further. The man was only satisfied when she was gasping rather then moaning, nothing but a gurgle of strangled air heaving from her chest. Each time her face paled he would allow her to have her airway back again, only to repeat the process again and again. Over and over. The man could feel himself grow even larger inside her pussy, the way she dragged him further in and clenched around every vein and ridge of his dick.

It was bliss. Hungry and greedy for more of his cock.

"Someone's feeling needy." Danny whimpered, that voice hadn't been Kylo's, but she couldn't focus on it while Ren was fucking her so well. Driving so deep and filling her up to the point she felt she would burst. With each pump of his cock it felt like her stomach distended, struggling to accommodate him as she tried her best to push back into his postponing hips. Then he stilled. His cock ceasing it's abuse on her cunt as her eyes burst open.

More importantly, just in time to witness the filthiest thing her eyes had ever encountered.

Vicrul had Kylo's chin gripped between his fingers. Tight. Danny almost leapt forward to avoid a scuffle. But that didn't come. She watched as both men held eye contact, intense and deep. Neither one of them looking away as the seconds drew on. Still without shying away, Vicrul bought up his cigarette - taking a vast drag of the harsh tobacco vapour and holding it within his lungs. The German tipped Kylo's chin, just slightly, leering forward and digging his fingers further into Kylo's flesh - causing his mouth to open. Vicrul took the chance, hovering his mouth over Kylo's but never letting their lips meet - exhaling his used mouthful of smoke and heaving it into Kylo's lungs.

Kylo ate it all up. Groaning as the fermented tobacco hit his senses full frontal. Danny felt her body quiver at the sight, the sheer notion of such intimacy between the two men had never occurred to her in that way. It had her thighs and cunt clenching.

Danny groaned too. Feeling how Kylo's cock twitched between her walls. Aching. Pulsing.

Danny's eyes had shut. Just resting. Recovering.

Her senses were overwhelmed and her body was literally trembling. One big coiled aching mess of too much pleasure and the same of pain. She was content until Kylo pressed his chest to hers, crushing her and rutting his pelvis into her hips impossibly deep. It made her cry out. Whine and whimper.

"You liked that didn't you Kitten? Want Vic to shotgun you, is that right?" He pushed and pushed. Growling and snarling through his deep when she let her noises be freed too. Echoing from her chest and bouncing back across the room. Danny nodded.

She wasn't sure if they believed her request, she didn't either, her aim was simply to please.

Kylo didn't let her waver however. He leant back, his cock ripping out of her only to press against his stomach, smearing cum and fluid there. Danny was confused, it didn't last, Kylo yanked her by her sore wrists - the binds struggling slightly. Now his back was flat to the mattress, his big body taking up most of it as he spread himself out. Danny had fallen between his thighs, facing his still hard and leaking dick as it wagged. He continued to haul her up, she tried to help but he didn't like that. Kylo yanked at the back of her hair, pulling her neck awkwardly so she was forced to kick her legs out rather the kneel between his legs. His long arms and skilled fingers easily turned her around. "I want a full view of this ass while you fuck yourself on my cock Kitten."

He drawled. Fisting said appendages of flesh between rough fingers and she squeaked from the grasp he held. Danny took a deep breath, shimmying herself backwards so she was in the reverse cowgirl position in Kylo's lap. Gifting him exactly what he wanted. A perfect view of her perfectly round ass.

The raven haired killer didn't allow her much time to get situated. He was pressing the blunt - yet wide head of his cock against her pussy lips as soon as he could get her where he wanted her. Gyrating his hips so it teased and pressed against her wet folds and ripe clit. She shivered at the feeling. Clutching the flesh of his strong thighs with her nails unknowingly, not that Kylo even felt it that is. His cock slipped into her so easily, almost too easily. A perfect fit.

So wet, sloppy and all for him. Apart from tonight.

Danny pressed back into him. Straightening her spine and pushing her head back as pleasure took hold, wrenching her gut and lighting her nerves with whispering crowds of flame. Kylo's sounds only made her wilder, the way he wasn't shy, he didn't hold himself back or bite his tongue.

He was enamoured with being inside her - lived for it. Breathed for it. It was everything.

Danny could barely savour the moment that Kylo plunged deftly into her cunt. It was hot and it burned, churning an unbelievable feeling in her core.

Then a hand gripped at the back of her neck, weaving through the damp tresses of her hair and wrenching them back. It was Vicrul. When Danny finally opened her eyes, she understood why.

She watched him all the same. Taking a deep drag of his cigarette as the butt of it glowed a feverish orange, completely prepared when he pinched her the flesh of her cheeks and popped her jaw. All the while Kylo still kept up his pace, crushing his hips to hers in fluid upward motions while also forcing her pelvis downwards - meeting his strokes. Vic was slower this time, savouring his moment with her as looming as close as he could possible get. She panicked when he dropped his hand, cigarette still snug between his index and middle finger as the rest pressed against her clit. A forceful pressure that had her chest hiccuping and lungs squeezing. He ate up all of those noises, his lips hovering to hers but closer then they had been to Kylo's. Vic made sure she didn't try to reel away, from his mouth or fingers. He knelt on the bed with one knee, leering ever so close to her as she tried to maintain her rhythm atop Kylo. It was hard. The muscles in her body felt like they are being seared with iron, being burnt and shredded to fine pieces of useless matter.

Danny had never been one to smoke. Or at least, she had never picked up a habit of it. A cigarette here and there when peers offered it, maybe even taking a drag from one offered out by a client back in her working days. This - this was different.

Deliciously so. It was euphoric like this, she had never been shotgun before, when she had inhaled every last dreg of secondhand smoke - Vicrul crushed his lips to hers, never letting up the pace of his fingers as he battered her tongue and ran over her teeth with his. She had no escape from either of them. Denial would have been futile. Not that she would have ever denied them. Not ever. 

"Your close Kitten. I can fucking feel it." Kylo grit his teeth, his hips beginning to stutter slightly as he neared his own impending release. Danny words were a series of 'yes' and 'mmhmm', real words were impossible. Her little mewls and whined would suffice enough for both men, the after effect of such a good fucking. Vicrul had let Danny's noises past the brigade of his lips and mouth, moving to suckle and bite at her neck as he watched where she and Kylo were joined. Seeing how wet and messy she was, full of his cum and about to be full of Kylo's. The thought alone was filthy enough. And now she was seeing it. His more then drunk best friend fucking a meek little dancer they met some time ago now. Never in a million years did he picture this.

Never.

Then everything snapped into place. Kylo's fingernails had dug into her hips so hard Danny was sure he would have drawn blood. The pain never registered however, only the peaking white flash of her orgasm blinded her, robbed every other sense she had away as she screamed outwardly. Choking on her moans and Kylo and Vic never stopped their assault with their cock and finger, even as she tried to squirm away and free herself from them - she was trapped. Stuck between two hulking masses of killer instinct and devilishly handsome good looks as they ripped and pulled her through her high. Rising her up, only to slam her back down again. Squeezing her spine and wrenching her poor cunt and clit through the ringer. Tears fell over her cheeks and her body shook violently, her thighs and legs spasming ridiculously as she continued to whimper in their grasps. Kylo had followed her quickly after that, thrusting his whole lower half upwards for one last violent push to his own release. He came so deep inside of her, he half thought he wouldn't be able to feel it trickle out of her like he usually did. But he got what he hoped for, his delicious little cream pie all soaked and messy for him as she continued to cum and cum and cum. As for Vic, he had stepped back. Polished off his ciggy as he watched his own personal little porn show dissolve in front of him.

He watched intently as their chest heaved in unison, saw the way Kylo's hands became so gentle when handling a sore and abused Kitten.

She was bitten and bruised. Abused and ruined.

Just the way they liked it.

They didn't stop there. Danny had woken up on November 1st utterly confused and light headed.

It felt like she had downed a slither and a half of whiskey all to herself. Her throat was hoarse and her thighs were behind sore, let's not even mention the state her cunt was in. When she had stood from the bed that morning she could still feel the remains of both men painted there, both having fought to stake their claim again last night.

She had crept into the bathroom as naked as the day she was born. Danny figured one of them must have gotten bored of the hand restraints, either that, or one of them had snapped them. She blinked rapidly when the bathroom light came on, disbelieving of her own reflection that looked back at her.

Hair strewn and lips bruised from harsh kisses. Her neck and cleavage was a mess too, the result of unkind tongues and teeth during the night.

It appeared she still had segments of wax stuck to her skin too, globbed in cracked patches across her throat and tits where it had splashed over her skin.

That had been the only thing she was overly dubious of, Vicrul had bounded off somewhere while Kylo ate her out to the high heavens for the umpteenth time that night - or early morning. The German came back with a candle to hand, a lighter already snug in his other hand. Turns out - it had actually been more the pleasant. Kylo had whispered something dirty in her ear about trying it again when it was just the two of them, with no German numbskulls to interfere.

At some point, the three of them had passed out. Blissed out to fuck and content with the fresh outlet of serotonin pumping through their veins.

The sheets were scented with sweat, cum, Kitten and caramel apple candle wax. Something Danny didn't realise would be so pleasant.

Danny left both men sleeping. Both naked - Grecian like gods snoozing soundly as they stayed blissfully unaware of her departure. She had snagged a shirt of Vicrul's and tiptoed off downstairs to brew two coffees and a tea.

Nothing had prepared her for the German tongued nympho that joined her. And she wouldn't tell Kylo either. Not because she didn't want to. But because Vicrul had been very clear about the punishments she'd receive if she did.

Something along the lines of nipple clamps and ball gags?

She hoped it would never cum to that.

____________________________________

Just a little something i started before my hiatus.

Speaking of - I just wanted to say, this isn't me back.

I'm still hurting and I think I will continue to hurt for a while, it's just a series of things really, but I'll make it. No doubt I will continue to write. It's my escape from my real life, something I can actually look forward to and enjoy. Uploads will just be entirely dependent on how I'm doing mentally

Also please ignore the last 4K of this chapter, I was running out of time to make the halloween deadline and I just threw this up. So hope you enjoyed. Pigs.

N x

(I also didn't edit this lmao)


	19. 𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙰𝙿𝙴

It was early. Far too early for any sane being to be awake. But alas, Danny jolted back to the waking world, startled by a noise that emanated through the slithered crack in her door that led out past to the area of her modest little kitchen.

She had spent the last few day's away from Ben, not completely on purpose, it was just the way things had fallen. It felt like she was walking on glass around him lately, carefully treading her way through the day hoping she didn't get cut by the sharpened shards. Danny held her breath as she swung her legs over the bed carefully, her bare feet padding gently to the floor below. The space beyond her door was now silent, eerily so, like she had dreamt the disturbance entirely. Despite not knowing of the potential danger that lurked beyond the threshold of her ivory painted door, she chose to fumble quietly through her bedside drawer, locating and grasping her taser between her shaky fingers. She'd had the small device for years, mainly for work, she had no idea if the damn thing even worked.

The ashen-blonde crept towards the door, clenching her teeth when it clicked a little too loudly for her liking. Then she heard another noise, it was louder then before, so she gave herself no excuses and reacted immediately. She sprang through the door, taser tight between her fingers as she extended it towards whoever or whatever was intruding inside her bog-standard little apartment.

Her sea green eyes widened. Her breath catching in her throat as she felt her watery eyes sting, Danny's irises immediately softened afterwards as she gazed at the all so familiar sight. It was Ben.

Worry quickly overtook Danny when she watched Ben move to step towards her, a pained smile tugging at his lips as he fell to his knees with a loud thump. "Ben?" She dropped the device from her hands, it clanked loudly against the laminate floor as she leapt over to his side. Ben had pushed out his palms to save himself from falling all the way to the cold ground below, already attempting to get himself back up before Danny even made it to him. The man coughed loudly and painfully, like he had grit in his throat. "A taser huh?, I didn't know you had it in you Kitten." He attempted a laugh but another fit of coughing took hold. "What happened?" Danny's voice was laced with worry, her bleary eyes searched his face first, quickly locating a bump and a scratch here and there despite the dim light supplied from the moonlight outside her kitchen window. She took Ben's face in her hands, twisting it gently from side to side to further locate any other injuries he had. Danny tried not to focus on his eyes, she knew he was staring intently at her, watching and waiting for her to finally look him in those deep honey-bronze irises of his. Ben reached up, sitting his weight on his knees so he could take her hands in his own.

Her eyes landed on his knuckles, they were bloodied too, looking swollen and painful. "That doesn't matter, I just needed to see you." His words were raspy and strained, but Danny knew he meant them. She came to a crouch, finally meeting his eye as she did.

"Of course it matters." She breathed sternly, "Who did this to you?" She took her thumb and brushed it over his cheek bone, smearing away the blood from a gash that sat there. Ben smiled solemnly, his lips moved to speak but his body crowded forward, a hiss of pain leaving his throat. "Ben?" Danny caught his weight as he fell forward, or at least she tried to. She wrapped her arms around his neck and over his shoulders, Ben's chest meeting with her own.

Danny's eyes widened like a startled cat. Her fingers were met with something hot and sticky, it oozed through Ben's shirt and stained her hands. Blood. And so much of it. Panic set in and her heart rate spiked, sending her into a spiral of emotions that she couldn't dig her way out of, no matter how hard she tried. When she bought her hands closer to herself, Ben pushed them down and away from his sight. "Just a scratch Kitten, it's fine." He coughed again, as if punctuating his pain unwontedly.

"We need to get you to a hospital." Danny tried to push him up, settling him on his knees and trying to support his right arm. "No." Ben hissed through the pain, batting her hands away as she tried to assist him.

"There's too much blood Ben. Please, let me take you to the hospital." She was pleading with him, practically begging for him to think of his own health. He looked at the ground, his jaw tensing tightly. "You don't get it. I can't." Ben tried his best not to groan in pain through his words, his fist connected with the floorboards as he fought to keephimself straight and upright.

Then Danny understood. She pieced it together, rather quickly. It made sense that he couldn't go, because of course it did. He couldn't continuously show up to the emergency room with such catastrophic injuries and not expect to raise suspicions. She felt stupid for even suggesting it, but she had no idea the extent of his pain or injuries, it was only natural that she wished him to seek professional medical treatment. She cared too for the man too much to see him in this measure of pain.

"I'm calling Vic." She rasped, ensuring his weight was stable before she made a move to shoot off to grab her phone from her bedroom. Suddenly, Ben shot out his hand, his thick fingers tugging and curling into the soft fabric at the back of her sleep shirt. His voice was a strained spit through clenched teeth. "No."

Danny turned, meeting his eye. "Not Vic." He urged.

She couldn't string many comprehensive thoughts together at this moment, she didn't understand him, but she understood that he needed help. And fast.

Danny moved closer to him steadily, his hand fell from grasping her shirt, instead looping his unaffected arm round the back of her thighs; pulling her closer so he could rest his forehead against the plump flesh on her stomach. For a few moments, silence hung in the air like a forgotten noose.

A silence that blanketed the room and shrouded the two of them in an awkward light. "I haven't seen you in days and you show up here, in the middle of the night, covered in blood. What happened? Please don't lie to me Ben." Danny ran her fingers through his scalp gently, trying not to panic when the blood continued to pour from Ben's left shoulder.

"I needed to fix something, but it's beyond broken. I couldn't do it." Ben sat back on the heels of his shoes, untangling himself from Danny as he hissed and reached his own arm over to touch his bloodied shoulder. Danny stopped him, quickly grabbing his hand before he could dig his fingers through his seeping wound. "Hux normally patches us up, but he's traveling. I'll just have to wait a few days." The man threaded his fingers through Danny's as he spoke, his blood staining both his hand and now hers too.

"You can't wait that long Ben, come on, up you get."

Despite being only in her underwear and a baggy old shirt, she and Ben were far past the point of being shy with one another. Danny made sure to move carefully, propping her shoulder beneath Ben's armpit so she could support his weight.

It took some time. The size difference between the two was almost comical, his muscled frame and tall stature made it hard for Danny to support him, but together they were able to hobble over to the on-joining living room. Ben tried to sit himself on the couch but Danny didn't let him, she couldn't risk him falling from it and smashing his head if he fainted. Instead she propped him against the front of the sofa, with his back resting against it and his legs stretched out before him.

Danny left him there alone for a few minutes, Ben couldn't see what she was doing but he could hear her. Rooting through different drawers and cupboards in the kitchen as she frantically gathered items she needed, she cursed a few times here and there too. The man sat with the back of his head resting against the lip of the couch, his eyes facing upwards towards the ceiling as he heard Danny round from the kitchen. When she came back into his line of sight, her arms were full, with a bottle of bourbon snug in her hand. The man reached out for it but she snatched it away with a slight frown,

"The last thing you need is a drink." She scorned softly. Danny hopped over the couch arm and settled behind his head, discarding her items beside her. "Shirt please." Ben didn't hesitate at Danny's words as she proceed to pat his back - careful to miss his wound, but undoing the buttons and finally peeling the soiled fabric away from his blood-soaked skin proved more trivial. He could hear her fiddling with something behind him, the zip of a small bag and the fumbling of her fingers for something. It soon went quiet. When his shoulder was fully revealed - Danny had stopped breathing altogether, simply sitting back and wondering what could have done such damage.

It was an incredibly deep cut that ran down his shoulder blade, continuing further and stretchingbeneath it. The edges of his skin were jagged and scabby, already beginning to turn sour. Danny gently traced her fingers around the wound, careful not to actually touch it but testing his pain tolerance instead.

Ben's fingers caressed Danny's thigh from where he sat on the floor, "It's fine Kitten". She placed her hand over his, rubbing his fingers with her own digits.

"This might hurt a bit, but it'll help till Armitage gets back." She tried to sooth him with her tone, but the man didn't need it, he had been through worse. Ben nodded and looped one of her legs so the back of her knee was settled over his un-injured shoulder, he wrapped his arm around her thigh again, squeezing in reassurance. "Hurt me to your hearts content Kitten." He chuckled dryly but it didn't settle Danny's nerves an ounce. Not even a smidge.

She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and moved to unscrew the bourbons cap, without hesitating any longer Danny poured some of it out - the amber liquid sloshing directly into Ben's sore-angry wound and trailing down his strong back.The man did well to sit still, only gritting his teeth and clenching his jaw tight as a response to the initial sting. She handed him the bottle right after, not exactly offering him a drink but knowing he would take a generous swig anyway. Danny muttered out a 'sorry' to which Ben just grunted in response, choosing to sink more whiskey instead of thinking about the pain gnawing at his back. The ashen-blonde knew next to nothing about first aid, her intelligence went about as far as blisters from dance shoes that were a size too small or burnt fingers from hot stove tops she had forgotten about; deep - festering stab wounds were far from her strong suite.

She tried to work quickly. But her shaky hands and laboured intakes of breath limited her haste, Ben sat as still as a rock, waiting for her to begin her own home-thought treatment. Danny knew it wasn't the best idea she had conjured up, but sewing him up with a needle and thread was her safest option. The wound couldn't be left open for the next number of days until Hux returned, she knew that for sure, and if Ben wasn't going to seek professional attention; she would just have to step up to the plate. And that she did. When she finally steadied her trembling fingers and looped the fraying thread through the widest needle she could find, Danny proceeded to test the boundaries of Ben's pain tolerance again. Pinching his skin between her fingers before finally pushing the needle through his ripped flesh. Ben just took another deep slug of alcohol, not so much as flinching as she repeated the process over and over again. Despite her best efforts to clean up the blood, more continued to pump out as she manoeuvred his skin and her needle. She went as quick but as precise as she could, it would only have to put up with a few days of wear, it just needed to do it's job and not cause infection. That's all that Danny cared about.

She fucked it up at one point, however, the thread snapped and she ended up having to tie two pieces back together to make it long enough for his entire gash. The onslaught of crimson red blood and her shaky hands didn't help the stress of such a tedious task, but she managed somehow, the man remained quiet as he sipped on his cheap-borrowed bourbon. When Danny finished the makeshift stitching, she waded through her first aid kit, it was small and didn't hold much - but all she needed was some form of antiseptic. She miraculously found a tube of Chlorhexidine gel which would help the risk of infection and numb the pain, if the man even felt any that was. Danny applied it liberally, maybe even overdoing it, afterwards she slapped a hefty square of gauze across his shoulder blade and taped it on. The medical tape wasn't very sticky and the blood didn't help in that respect, but she was glad that his shoulder wasn't slashed completely open anymore and bleeding profusely.

Danny leant forwards, brushing away Ben's hair and kissing the side of his throat gently. "Your all done."

He felt her smile slightly against his skin. Despite being patched up, he still felt rotten inside. He'd gone days without seeing Danny, it was completely out of his control, the both of them were extremely busy; but he felt more then responsible. The night Armitage had come to his home and spoke the truth, Ben had hurt Danny again; he used her to try and rid himself of his own rotting sense of self destruction. After gathering himself in that shower he had pulled her to her feet and taken the both of them to bed without another word, he couldn't bring himself to mutter any more apologies. His brain was too tired. He let her fall asleep that night wrapped in his arms, their chests and heartbeats synced with one another's as Danny fell into a steady slumber.

Ben was more awake than he ever had been.

He thought about Kylo a lot. More then he let on.

Kylo was part of himself after all, the two of them were one in the same, Ben had always lived inside Kylo, the same as Kylo would always live in Ben. No matter how far away Ben took himself away from New York and the First Order, Kylo would be inescapable, like a rotting tumour deep down in his lungs.

Just the smell of Kitten calmed him down, her sweet sweet smell was what kept him so subdued when she was around. The warmth she radiated and the gentle beating of vanilla-jasmine from her skin was what kept him so level headed recently, Ben liked that she was beginning to take over. More and more of her sketch books and art history texts worked their way onto his bookshelves and his coffee table, she had bought her own mug back from her apartment that she preferred her tea brewed in and it seemed her warmth and presence began to linger even when she was gone. There had been a rare day in which Ben had gotten out of First Order office duty, Danny unfortunately - was still kept away from the house by Hackthorn. Ben had tried his best that morning to have her stay in bed with him, forcing her back to the waking world with his tongue pushed - buried deep inside her cunt. It had been a persuasive tactic for as long as it took before she came three times. With a hoarse and breathy whisper Danny had pleaded with him, telling him she couldn't leave Hackthorn thinking she didn't take this opportunity as seriously as she did. Ben had huffed at that, but he understood her point.

Then he only went and fucked it up again, things were going so well, and he hurt her again. Just because he couldn't bare to come face to face with the truth. He didn't want to admit the inevitable, he knew that Danny was in danger for as long as she stayed around him, perhaps even after. Kenjiro was ruthless and destructive, anything that held sentiment to Kylo or Ben, he would seek to destroy it to withering dust. Danny fell asleep curled into his chest that night, unknowing of Ben's festering inner turmoils as he sat stark awake. If she hadn't been there to ground him, there would have been no telling what Ben would have gone and done. In the long run, it only set his temper back a few day's, because right now - he was sat with painfully sore stitches cresting over his shoulder blade. The aftermath of colliding tempers and high rising emotions that hadn't come face to face in years. It was a boiling cesspit of bubbling fury and unbridled rage, the type of anger that snapped like taught wire and slashed and tore around everything in the back lash of it all.

Ben's vision wavered slightly, a blurry edged face now hovering in his line of sight as he blinked away his deep - winding thoughts. Gentle fingers brushed against lightly over his cheek, feeling the back of Danny's knuckles across his skin snapped him back to the room as he still remained sprawled out against the front of Danny's couch.

"You spaced out for a minute there." Although her tone did it's best not to match it, Ben could see clearly the worry swirling in her silver-green eyes, they always gave her away; the man knew exactly what she was truly feeling when he dove beneath the surface of her deep sea foam irises. "Just tired is all." The raven haired killer kept a neutral expression, they had made progress - that much was obvious. But he still couldn't help but feel the need to shield himself away in certain situations, he may have let her stitch him back together, literally and metaphorically, but he sure as hell wasn't about to tell her exactly who had had been on the other end of that fucking knife.

Danny let out a long and defeated sigh, one that was a mixture of disappointment and regret.

Ben didn't like it one bit.

He watched her carefully as she stood from her crouch in front of him, he didn't know how he hadn't noticed her shimmy and crawl her way from the sofa space behind his head to come to a stop just inches from his face, he truly had been in such deep thought. The ashen-blonde carefully walked to the kitchen as Ben made an effort to try and stand, he struggled somewhat, but he managed with the help of the furniture resting conveniently at his side.

His eyes found and followed her as she propped her elbows against the sink - her head cowering low between her arms as her spine crowded forward and weakened. "The more you tell me not to worry, only makes things worse, you bought me into this mess; at least humour me and let me know where it is that you go. Tell me who does this to you." Danny's voice was so close to breaking, her words were bit out against her teeth as she willed her built up walls not to crumble and fall. She heard steady shuffling behind her, like he was almost mentally hesitant about bringing himself closer to her as a pose to struggling physically to actually get himself to her side. Then the sound stopped. Ben had made his choice and kept his distance, unsure of wether he could allow the truth to spill from his own lips or not.

A dry laugh tore from Danny's throat, her eyes and neck snapped upward, her tears lined by the silver moonlight that bled through the window she was stood beneath. "It isn't a case of wether you can trust me or not anymore Ben, you've let me in on enough, yet you still think I'm not deserving of your honesty?" Her throat felt coarse and sore, the sobs that wished to escape were bubbling from her chest and threatening to spill. The silence was drawn out for a few long moments before Ben spoke, "I do trust you. And you're deserving of more then just my honesty. I'm just- I'm just trying to keep you safe." His words fell from his tongue like heavy lead, they fell to the laminate flooring and stirred something foul in Ben's belly. Danny didn't turn to face him, she didn't move at all, she stayed as still as an oil portrait - Ben couldn't help but notice how her hair would glow in the moonshine, it almost turned a bright magnificent silver. Like something of an enchanting being from a story book.

The girl still hadn't turned, still letting her tear-rimmed eyes focus on the blackened violet sky beyond the planes of glass. "That's just it Ben, how can you keep me safe if you won't tell me what you're trying to protect me from?" With her shrivelling words came the first rattle of her chest, it rumbled through her lungs and rattled her rib cage painfully. Ben wanted to reach for her, he wanted to hold her close and bleed the truth into her through pressing his lips into her own. He really did trust her. He would trust her with his life, and that was a miracle in itself. But that didn't change anything, he had no idea if Danny even knew that Ushar existed. He couldn't risk putting her in harms way, he figured if he settled things before Kenjiro clocked onto to Danny's existence that he could solve everything. Little did he know that his fallen brother was already one step ahead. Seemingly at all times.

"I just need time. I'll fix it." The man took a step forward - watching and anticipating for Danny to deny his attempts to move closer. She didn't. Again,she was as still as a Greek goddess carved from bronze and porous limestone. Ethereally unmoving.

The next whisper that blew past her lips had Ben ceasing in his tracks mid-step, his shoulder burning icy cold and his windpipe squeezing harshly.

"Time doesn't heal all wounds Ben."

In the few seconds that followed her words, Danny turned on her heel and met Ben's eye. Every minute detail of her pain was etched into her features, from the crease of her brow to the harsh bags that shadowed her gorgeously tired eyes. She looked exhausted, run rampant by her new and exciting daily routine only to have Ben turn up unannounced when she should be resting peacefully. Someone had said those words to Ben before, someone distant yet so present, it gnawed at his mind as he tried to remember. But he drew a blank. The memory slipped deftly through his fingers.

Before, Danny had spent days thinking about Ushar and the words he spoke to her in that grubby underground station. Things had flown by so fast that she barely had much time to think about it, but when he came to mind, it was hard to get rid of him. The man was like a plague, his mystery and non-existent transparency only made it harder to push the thought of his actions and words away. He had threatened her, but also helped her in a strange way. At night when she was laid up alone in her apartment or when she fought to cram just a few more hours in at her studio it would seem his image would spring into her vision, it couldn't be denied that he was a handsome man. It only made him all the more appealing for him to be understood, he may have been dangerously beautiful on the outside, but beneath his skin and sunflower eyes - laid something truly dark and horrifically disturbed. Danny couldn't focus on much when she replayed that night in her head, it had indeed been the same night she'd seen Jake with his head smashed in like a crushed watermelon. It was a night she would take to her grave. She couldn't remember where that little slither of card had gotten to, she wished she could remember. Perhaps then she might have told Ben, she even contemplated taking it to Vicrul instead. Danny feared for Ben's reaction - she was still unsure of who this mystery man was, and with her lovers favoured instability; she didn't wish for him to kill himself trying to find a man that could be nothing. That's what stumped her. This stranger, he knew things, bits and pieces of information that were almost too personal. The pet name in particular. The way he had spoken of Kylo and Vicrul in turn, his sharp tongue spat hatred and pain, Danny wished she knew why. But she had come to the conclusion she perhaps never would, this man could have been an addict for all she knew, he may have stumbled across a lost letter or overheard a conversation in the street for all she knew. After days of willing up the courage to tell Ben of her suspicions, she shot down the idea, things were going okay. That night was behind them. They had progressed. Ben was learning and trying. Why would she fuck that up for the sake of a stranger spewing potential nonsense? Well, she wouldn't. That's why they were having this conversation now. Both of them completely unaware that each of them knew of Kenjiro Ushar, both of them unaware of the danger that lurked over their heads like a black storm cloud.

"Time has healed more for me then any kind of medicine ever could Kitten."

Ben's voice was soft like silk velvet, it took Danny off guard, for the first time since meeting him, she almost couldn't hear his words. He didn't shout, or spit his phrase. He was, gentle. Carefully treading on eggshells as he tried to convey his words to Danny without actually having to let her in on the inner workings. He was awfully good at that. Ben was intelligent and quick witted, most of the time - he knew what to say and when to say it; if it didn't involve his feelings of course. He was well versed and his sharp tongue only made him that much more intimidating to even exist near. Danny had quickly gotten used to his sharp tone and seethed words, he would unconsciously growl in his throat at things he didn't like or mumble curses under his breath as he moved throughout his day. It was just the way he worked, at times when he couldn't or was able to choose not to lash out - little tics had burrowed their way there instead, little things that replaced his raging and explosive episodes.

Hearing Ben speak so warmly and yet so solemnly didn't sit right with Danny. It stirred her tummy into knots and made her palms clammy. He was supposed to shout. He was supposed to get angry. He would propel his emotions from his chest then, the truth would fly from his mouth along with his spittle as he seethed his words lowly at her. Soon realising he'd let too much slip out and regretting it afterwards, but it would be too late.

Ben wasn't supposed to be this calm. Though Danny was glad he didn't explode, she couldn't help the ticking at the back of her skull. Something prodding and annoying begging to be set free. Better now then never. "What.." she paused momentarily, structuring her words with careful placement. "What happened the other night...I wanted to forget about it. But whatever Hux said to you, I can see it's eating you." Now it was Danny's time to move closer, stepping carefully over the floorboards as if she was skimming polished stepping stones on a gentle river bed.

"I know I repeat myself too much Ben, but you need to know, I will stay for as long as you give me reason to. You just need to let me help you." The man could see the tears now spilling, running like exotic river streams over her ample cheeks and collecting down the angle of her jaw. Ben neared closer, stepping carefully as he stretched out his arm - seeking her body. Danny stood limp, numb and cold to everything around her. His silence was deafening, louder then any cry from any beast.

Ben stopped short. Not quite reaching near enough to hold her, he stopped because he was unsure.

Tedious. What a fucking joke. He had killed. Robbed people of their lives, and he couldn't even bring himself to speak his feelings to this girl. A girl he had never imagined would stay, he thought she would leave him like everyone else in his life already had done. She chose to stay and Ben still couldn't bring himself to re-open his old wounds, he felt weak for letting too much out. He felt unmanly for shedding tears into the crook of her neck when she was sound asleep at night. He couldn't bring himself to let her see this side as often as he should. Yes he had cried to her before, only the other night too, but that had been like a stabbing wound to the chest.

Cauterised by the knowledge that he couldn't let himself slip, if he became too attached it meant it would hurt all that much harder in the end.

Because in the end, pain was inevitable, it was looming on the horizon. Ready.

"How have you been over the last few days? I've missed you." Ben's voice was cold, like a sharp stone on a cliff side. He was hiding. Again.

Danny's eyes fell, watching as Ben fisted his hands by his side, like they were itching to do something.

Wether that something was punching a wall or reaching out to hold her, she didn't know.

The girl was growing tired. As much as she knew she loved Ben, she didn't dare think about wether he felt the same way about her. It was clear he felt something. But if it was love or not, that was unclear.

He was a killer. Or at least, Kylo was. It didn't keep her up at night, or leave her frightened for her life. 

He only took the lives of bad people who had bad intentions, she believed him, and part of her knew he wasn't lying. How could a murderous beast show such kindness like he had shown her? Vicrul too.

Despite their nature and pasts, they were two of the most selfless individuals she had ever met.

Jake had painted his own fait the night he attacked Danny, it wasn't her fault and it wasn't Kylo's.

It was a case of pest control. Danny didn't feel bad that Jake had died, he hadn't succeeded in having his way with her but he had gotten to Paige.

That's what made Danny feel guilty. She had failed to tell her best friend the truth and it got her hurt in the end. Part of Danny was mad that Kylo and Vicrul had failed to tell her, but at the time, she wouldn't have listened if they'd tried to tell her anyway.

With the club under new management and Paige in the care of her mother, it seemed that Danny had little to worry about. Apart from progressing with Ben and pursuing her career, with that, everything seemed fine.

Jake's father was yet to quiet down about the entire ordeal however, he still owned the club but simply threw it into someone else's lap to look over while he hired private investigators to find his son, who he believed to still be alive somewhere.

"I've been busy, what with the gallery opening soon and everything." Danny rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, her eyes inspecting the floor as if the thing itself were a Banksy or Picasso. She could see Ben's feet in her line of sight, she saw how he moved to step even closer. Danny moved out of instinct, clearing her throat as she weaved around him and moved back to the couch. "How have you been?" She questioned him quietly, shuffling through the first aid kit that had been abandoned on the seat.

It was clear that Ben was hurt by her display, avoiding him and shuffling around her apartment like a phantom. He cleared his throat now too, turning on his heel so he was facing her and away from the small kitchenette. Ben was still bare chested, the blood on his skin having started to crust and coagulate to rough scabs. Danny's naivety was there again, the man had literally been stitched up by her not even twenty minutes ago and she was asking him how he'd been lately? Ben knew she wasn't throwing a jab his way or being snidey, she genuinely wanted to know how he was holding up. Bar the stab wound of course. The man took a step forward, tentatively, "Things have been quiet at home." He huffed, the pain in his shoulder thumping under his skin like a dull annoyance. Danny fingers stilled, having found what she was after, the girl stood straight again - clicking her tongue when the packet of antiseptic wipes didn't rip open as easily as she wished. "Come 'ere." Danny met Ben's eye for a split second while she beckoned him, jerking her chin at the same time to goad him forwards.

Ben didn't hang around, he stepped towards her quickly, closing the distance between the two of them as he loomed over her. Their heights still comically different despite Ben's pained slouch.

Danny again didn't look into his eyes, she took his chin in her hand instead, twisting it gently away from her so she could wipe down the gash on his cheek bone. It was a superficial little cut, but Danny wanted it clean nether the less. Ben moved a hand to balance at her hip, keeping him stationed there while she cleaned the blood from his face.

"Those candles you like burnt out while you were gone." The man hissed as Danny pressed a little too firmly on his cheek, the sting of the alcohol wipe aching slightly. "I thought you could choose some more." He resumed speaking when Danny bought her hand down, having cleaned him up to some degree. The girl smiled slightly and nodded in silence, breaking away from Ben's grip so she could dispose of the soiled wipe.

"Fine, I get it. If I don't talk, you won't talk." Ben leant the small of his back against the back of the couch, folding his arms over his wide chest as he watched Danny scatter off to the kitchen space.

"I haven't reached that level of immaturity yet." Danny quipped as she walked back towards Ben - having discarded of the bloodied wipe, easily passing him and making her way back toward her bedroom door. "I disagree." Ben snarled, his browns knitting together as he watched her. "You want to bark at me about immaturity?" The girl barely craned her neck to throw her words at him, definitely not in the mood for fighting with Ben. The man pushed himself from where he slouched, a snarl biting at his lips as he spoke again. "Don't just run away, if you have something to say don't run and hide Kitten." His tone wasn't angry, it was more pressing, slyly taunting in the way Kylo used to. Danny turned swiftly, a deep scowl etched onto her face as she finally met his eye properly. "I'm not running."

The girl sighed, her head cowering low as Ben stared sharply at her. "I'm just tired Ben." She looked up, seeing he had loomed even closer, his eyes still dark and rimmed with something festering. "Go home."

Danny rasped her words, un-wanting of any further altercation with the man. She moved to close the door behind her but he was there too quickly, his palm slamming into the flat wooden surface with such force he could have shattered it. Danny jumped back, no doubt a yelp leaving her mouth as she did. 

"We're not done yet." Ben spat. Pushing his way through the door so Danny was forced to reel back slightly, she still wasn't afraid of him. She never thought she would be, no matter how he acted -

Ben would always shine through to Danny. Not Kylo.

Her palm found his chest, keeping the man at arms length while her head span and her heart raced.

"Yes. We are." She affirmed stiffly. Danny's eyes were wide but she made sure to keep her lungs even, she didn't want him to think he got to her the way he really did. Ben continued forward, his chest pushing against her hand as he slammed the door behind him. "When did you grow a backbone?" Ben hissed lowly, leering his face so close to Danny's that she could taste the mint on his breath. She craned her neck away, his cologne intoxicating as it found her nose. "The night you first yelled at me like this."

Danny spat the words back at him, now jutting out her chin as she bared her teeth at him.

Ben knew exactly which night she meant. The night Jake had tried his luck, the night Kylo picked her up and took her home. The night he carried her to bed as Vicrul watched in disbelief and amusement.

The night he had indeed screamed at her for not wanting Jake to pay for what he had done, he had spat his words at her and left that night with a chip on his shoulder. After all of it. Danny was the one left apologising for Kylo's temper.

Ben snapped. His left forearm pushing Danny's hand down as his right hand found her throat and squeezed it tightly. His eyes were frantic, blown wide as he watched Danny's fingers clasp at his wrist desperately. Ben shoved her backwards, bare feet skirting against the floor as she tried to plant herself. Key word being 'tried'. He was much too strong, sending her crashing to the bed with little to no effort. Danny had barely any time to try and reason with the man before he was on her, one strong knee pressing against her cunt as he clasped her neck tighter between his fingers. He stopped when he heard her wheeze, that was just the right pressure.

"I like it when you talk back." Ben's teeth were gleaming in the starlight, it just being strong enough to peak through her hazy curtains despite the early hour. The violet blue hue of the sky still not quite cresting into morning yet, the peachy kiss of day-break standing down and slumbering those few moments longer. Danny half moaned - half wheezed his name. Such a small task but with so much effort.

She knew he liked that. Ben liked the fact that he could have her melting at the click of his fingers, he relished in it, believed in it. He came closer, his breath whispering over his pale skin as he did.

Danny didn't try to recoil or squirm away this time.

She couldn't help it. Their bodies were like magnets. Coiling and jutting into each other like they were formed to fit, moulded from clay to piece together. Now and always. Two that are one. Forever.

His name fell from her lips but Ben swallowed it right up, his bruised lips stinging as he pressed them into Danny's. He didn't care. Didn't even feel it. 

He just felt her. Existing under his fingertips.

Writhing and clinging to him like her damn life depended on it. Maybe it did. Maybe it didn't.

There were no thoughts now. Just feelings. Bodies. Moving and diving into one another with a feverish need. Lips meeting and hands grabbing.

Rough and somehow gentle at the same time.

A mutual understanding of painful trust.

Danny's hand pushed firmly against Ben's clammy sternum, her torso moving to sit up as she forced him upwards with glossy eyes. He knew her qualms.

Of course he did. He knew her inside and out by now. The short few months he'd known her had already felt like a lifetime, but he still knew her.

Ben's chest was heaving in sync with Danny's, their breaths still twining together as they fought for air.

Sat, staring at one another. More then likely waiting for the other to break the blanket of silence sitting heavy on the room. "I'm not made of glass Kitten."

Ben had beaten her to it. Danny's eyes fell in a silent query, probably curing Ben for knowing she didn't want to hurt him. Ben could have laughed at the notion, but he didn't. Kitten couldn't hurt him even if she tried, she'd never be able to get that from him.

Danny gave a slight laugh. Her fingers shifting against his chest as she stared at a mole pressing up against his skin. "You're made of something much worse." Her eyes trained to his, glued together as she watched his brow furrow and soften again. 

Ben hummed darkly in his throat. Daring her to finish what she had to say. His hand had fell from her neck a while ago, his fingers now pinching the roll of her hip beneath the sad little nightshirt she was wearing. His fingers squeezed. A warning to her.

"Talking to you is like talking to a wall sometimes."

Danny didn't take her eyes away from Ben's, still glossy and swimming with lust as she trailed her hand down. Further down the line of his torso and teasing over the folds of muscle that were creased at his abdomen. His body shivered. His excitement growing along with something else. Danny continued her words, her tone barely a whisper as her nails slightly grazed Ben's scorching hot skin.

"Like getting blood out of a stone." She bit her lip, her fingers dipping beneath Ben's waistband only to be abruptly stopped by a forceful grip snatching at her wrist, almost snapping the frail bone in half.

His lips were crashing into hers again, Ben pinned her hips to the bed with his own pelvis. Keeping her there and sitting almost all of his weight on her so she couldn't even attempt to crawl away.

She gasped onto his lips, spine crushed into the mattress below her as her shirt rode up past her belly button. Ben took advantage of that.

Releasing the pressure on her wrist and gripping the curve of her waist in one big mitt of his. Ben's touch would leave bruises, he made sure of it.

Danny moaned. Quickly reprimanding herself by biting her lip to mute the noises. Ben stilled.

A filthy smirk playing on his lips at the sight of her beneath him. He'd lost count of how many times he'd had her, he found that he never grew tired of it.

Her body, the way her supple skin felt beneath his rough fingertips and palms. The way she simply melted at his touch - no matter what he did.

Her voice, the way she mewled just like a Kitten when he ate her out or cupped her pussy in his big palm. Or the way she screamed for him when he bottomed out with little warning - her pretty little cunt having to fight and stretch to fit him inside.

Everything about her. Filling each and everyone of his senses day and night. The warmth and familiarity of her perfume as it sat in the air and on her skin.

Just seeing her living. Breathing. It was enough.

He was just lucky enough to get everything else too.

He had hooked a thumb over her lip. Pulling it from between her teeth and resting the pad of his digit on her tongue, not moving to push it back, just having it rest there as she panted and squirmed.

"This mouth will be your downfall, Danny."

Ben chuckled down at her. Gathering spit from her mouth on his thumb before removing it and popping it into his own mouth. Sucking, then groaning after.

Danny felt drunk from the whiskey on Ben's tongue, maybe if she was intoxicated, this would be easier.

That slither of liquid courage wouldn't let her feel guilty for wanting to push him away. She wanted him. Fuck. She wanted him bad. But he was hurt.

Not just hurting physically. Mentally too.

She was too. Things might have seemed okay.

In reality, they were both as scared as eachother.

A shared fear of the unknown and the yet to come.

Ben was panting into her neck. His breath fanning over her skin and sending tremors through her nerves. Days had passed by with nothing. No kisses.

No fucking. Nothing. For days that hadn't seen or even been near eachother. This was inevitable.

Danny was a hunger. A gnawing sensation at the back of Ben's mind, day and night. With her gone, he was ratty and uncomfortable. Lacking her warmth.

The girl took advantage of Ben's lips not crushing her own, she was able to whisper to him. The words blew past her lips in a flurry, her face all scrunched up as Ben's teeth worried the flesh of her throat.

"Your shoulder." Danny hushed. Her back arching into him as he suckled her skin between his sharp teeth, no doubt leaving marks for her to try and cover up tomorrow. Ben growled against her.

"Forget about it Kitten." He shushed her, his fingers tracing up her rib cage and over her bare chest.

Danny clasped his hand over her breast, allowing him to still squeeze the flesh but forcing his eyes to stare into hers. They were full of worry.

Trimmed with lust but still holding that slither of concern for Ben's straining body.

This time, Ben didn't say anything. He shook his hand away from Danny's hold, quickly using his arm to loop under her back to flip her over. She yelped as she was tossed around, he used his hand at the base of her neck, shoving her face into the mattress as she laid as still as she could. "When I tell you to do something." Ben's voice was ever so low, rough and full of sex as he loomed like a shadow over her.

He craned down, one hand still pressing against the back of Danny's neck while the other looped around the front of her waist - forcing her to come up-to her knees and press her ass into his groin.

"You'll fucking do it." He spat into Danny's ear.

Her hair was a messy tangle of ashen-blonde, strewn across the mattress and blocking her face as she winced from Ben's tone. She couldn't help but feel herself grow even slicker, she couldn't deny that she liked him this way. It was electric. Intoxicating even.

Danny breath stuttered, a strained whine leaving her throat as she felt Ben push the nightshirt even further up her body. Danny swore she heard Ben's smirk crack wider, his palm flattening against her back so her torso gave her back an even deeper arch. 

She was resting on her chest now, forearms stretched forward as her fingers wove through the sheets in an attempt to relieve the brewing tension.

The only time Danny ever felt small around Ben, was at times like this. At any other time, he made sure to show her they were equals. He didn't suffocate her with his dark - looming presence like they both knew he could, he didn't make her feel unworthy because of her financial situation. He treated her as someone who was on par with him, she had earned that.

Danny had proved to him how much she was worth through her character, she didn't need to be the tiniest thing covered in giant jewels and real gucci to be worthy to him. She was worth ten of the girls that had come before her, they were flings that had little care for him - they just wanted the money.

Kylo had never let them penetrate deep enough to discover Ben, they didn't know the real him.

They barely stuck around for more then a few sex and cash filled weeks. That's all they were.

A pair of tits and a pay-check at the end of it all.

Danny was so much fucking more then that.

She knew it too. The only time he ever allowed her to feel small was when they had sex. He preferred the dominance of it all. He liked that she would try her best to please him and follow orders, she always made it her obligation to understand that. Only on a few occasions had he gifted the power to her, and she hadn't abused it. That's why he trusted her.

Ben was smiling. Something dark. He was on his knees behind Danny, just admiring the curve of her ass in the dim moonlight. There was little light to provide him with enough sight to see around the entirety of the room, he was just grateful of the set up of her room. From where the bed was sat the light from outside bled straight over her mattress, illuminating just a few floorboards before it began to dim when it hit the adjacent wall behind it.

She was wearing something comfortable on her lower half, completely unsuspecting and unprepared for his unannounced visit. He liked the innocence of that, how she wasn't even trying to rouse him and yet it came so easily to her. Just the feeling of her silky skin beneath his palms was enough to get him going, the slight tremble of her little body on making things worse for Ben's control. Danny hummed when he palmed the flesh of her ass in his big brute hands, squeezing and releasing, watching how it wobbled back into place. He fell to his palms, each one placed at either side of Danny's head.

He kissed at her throat, humming in satisfaction when she made a point to move to give him more access. "Such a good little Kitten." He grinned.

The mattress groaned when he sat back up on his knees, the sound of his belt buckle shackling loose found Danny's ears. Her cunt tensing at the move.

It was only barely noticeable that Ben's movements were slightly lagging, no doubt a lull from his still sore shoulder. He didn't make a deal out of it.

He had something else entirely on his mind rather then fussing about his wound, that didn't matter when Danny was spread out so deliciously in front of him. Ben couldn't see it, but as he continued to move his slacks down his hips - Danny was biting her lip.

Preemptive of what would come next, even excited at just the thought of him being almost naked behind her. The sight of his god-like slabs of carved muscle and body were something Danny willed herself never to forget, each time he revealed them to her, always felt like the first time she had ever seen him.

It always boggled her how someone like Ben, could ever see something in someone like her.

Little did she know he felt exactly the same way.

Her breath left her throat when she felt him, all of him. His cock was so close, and yet, she cursed that last little bit of fabric that separated them.

He was making a point to tease her, the soaked fabric of her panties rubbing friction on his cock as he leant forward and pressed into her harder.

She whimpered his name but he shushed her, running a few fingers through her hair as his chest met her back. He came back up to rest on one of his palms, the other hand making a move to stroke her inner thighs as they trembled. Danny did well to stay on her knees, she could have swooned for him so easily, but she knew she'd have a lesson to learn.

"Tell me how much you've missed me."

His fingers were so soft, like his voice. Tempting her to speak to him. Her forehead was resting on the backs of her hands, her chest heavy with lust.

"So much Ben, I've missed you so much."

She half moaned - half whined. His fingers ghosted over her pussy for a split second, only to run back down over the opposite thigh. She was shaking now.

Ben only hummed in approval. His fingertips wet with the arousal that dripped from her soaked core.

He hooked his finger into her underwear, pulling it to the side so he could let his eyes meet her cunt.

His favourite pretty little pussy. Weeping and ready.

Ben hooked his hands onto her ass again, using his thumbs to pry open her pussy. He could see how wet and soft and delicious she was. Her delicate flower.

All his and no one else's. A few months ago, Danny would have wished to evaporate in a moment like this, but she had learnt that she had nothing to fear or be embarrassed about with Ben anymore.

She swore she squealed in delight when Ben's lips found her cunt, kissing and sucking at the flesh as he tasted her. Not a crevice or fold was left unexplored, his lips didn't cease. He made her cum like this.

Barely even a few minutes of his sole attempt to warm her up and she was breaking, the cresting waves of pleasure rolling through her chest and stopping her lungs. It was phenomenal really.

For days she had been untouched but her body never forgot him, it was waiting out for him.

Her knees trembled and her body tensed through it.

She cried for his name. And god's too.

That made Ben chuckle.

His knees stabbed into the mattress again, despite kneeling he was still so looming and tall. His slacks weren't even passed his knees but he didn't give a shit, he wasn't about to waste any more time then he already had done. His cock was leaking and hard, painfully even. Ben rocked forward, his dick slipping between the soft lips of Danny's pussy but not quick rutting into her yet. He wanted to be covered in her wetness, his cock smothered in her juices so he slipped in with no effort. Ben wanted to hear the noise of them joining, how sloppy and messy it always was. He loved it that way.

His balls tightened when he felt Danny rock backwards, letting her lips slip backwards and forwards over his head and shaft as she did.

His claws were at her hips, breaking skin and bruising. Ben felt like his teeth were going to shatter from how tightly he was tensing his jaw, like the mouth bones would splinter from it.

He couldn't take it anymore. With one hand still clasped at her hip the other found his shaft, gripping it before letting himself slide into her pretty little hole. He watched with trained eyes. How far her pussy had to stretch just to fit him inside, it was unreal, her slick was coating him.

Dripping onto the bedsheets. Slipping down her thighs and down his ballsack. Their smell was sitting on the air, the room stuffy with sex and washing detergent from her perfumed sheets. She heaved when he buried himself deep in her cunt, he punched the air out of her, Danny's lungs robbed of their air as he hit home. God's name had slipped past her lips again, but Ben would let it slide.

In truth, Ben wasn't even in the room at that point. He was somewhere else in the cosmos, lost and floating through another world.

Yes, that's how good her pussy felt to him.

Danny's fingers were fisting into the bed sheets below, her nails somehow not ripping the fabric.

Ben's rhythm started brutal, and it stayed that way.

Their bodies smacked together roughly, their wet skin slapping together as they both threw their heads back. Ben's hair was tacked to his forehead, his chest sweaty and muscles tensing all around. He was in a state of pure bliss, the growls and rumbles escaping his throat making that perfectly clear.

Somewhere along the line, Ben had gripped the back of Danny's hair, forcing her up to rest on her arms as he ploughed deeper. He attacked her throat, latching his teeth and mumbling his moans into her neck.

She was nearly pulled all the way up, her fingertips barely ghosting across the bed as he held a firm grip on her. Her neck was craned back, the strangled noises of her pleasure leaving in huffs as Ben fucked into her mercilessly. She was overwhelmed.

"Such a perfect pussy, Kitten." His words were bitten into the side of her neck, she moaned as her eyes began to stream. This all felt so good. Too good.

"Oh Ben." She whined, her voice a soft squeak as he hit that one sweet spot he knew all too well.

Ben wrapped the crook of his elbow around her neck, making sure her throat was in the crease of it.

He bought her to a stand on her knees, still buried balls deep in her pussy the whole while he manoeuvred her to his liking. Her back was flush to his chest, their sweat twining together as their bodies rubbed against one another. Her limbs felt prostrate, but she managed to bring an arm up, draping it behind her head to loop around the back of Ben's neck. Somehow bringing him even closer to her, if that was even possible. Danny craned her neck, connecting her lips to Ben's even at the strange angle. Their kiss broke when he pistoned forward a little too roughly, causing Danny to swear under her breath with a hiss. But Ben wasn't done, he snatched her chin - forcing her face back round so he could bring their lips back together. His tongue wasn't shy, it explored her mouth and dominated her. Danny couldn't help but squirm, she wanted to touch more of him, feel more of him.

Ben's hips had stilled momentarily while he had his way with her mouth, it seemed Danny was too distracted to notice when one of his hands began to wonder. He snaked it around her waist, cupping her pussy in a swift dip of his hand. She squealed into his mouth, his fingers and cock now abusing her pussy as each and everyone of her muscle fibres throbbed for the tension of it all. They were all pants and moans, hissed curses and mutters of god's name. Ben's cock was spearing Danny open and yet she still wished for more of him, she wanted them to be joined forever. To never be able to let one another go or be lost, she needed him and vice versa. 

"Tell me you'll stay." Ben's voice sounded far away.

Like it was underwater. Her ears muffled by cotton wool or a snuffed blanket. It felt so foreign whispered against her lips, so strange and yet...

The same.

Danny was dazed. Confused by what he had said.

Her brows creased in both pleasure and query.

"W-what?" She tried to lean back to see his face, but he stopped her. Quickly pushing her back down to where she had been before, laid on her front and unable to see the wetness pooling in his hazel irises.

"Say it!" His voice grew, his grip on her only becoming rougher. Danny yelped at the surprise of his voice, she still wasn't scared of him, she never could be. "Say it!" He repeated. His hips slotted forward, jerking Danny so her chest rasped forward against the bedsheets. "I'm staying! Oh god Ben, I'm staying." Danny cried out, the pleasure and the pain now beginning to clash as his bruising grip continued. She was too far gone to even comprehend his words, he was fucking her so deep and so rough.

How could he expect her to answer him?

"Good." Was the last heavy grunt that came from Ben, one of his arms balanced himself out on the bed, giving him even more leverage to pull himself even closer and push himself deeper inside her.

Ben's hips stuttered. Danny's lungs did the same. They both felt it. That same familiar flame lighting and growing with such feverish heat that it scolded the both of them, if burnt them to ashes.

An overwhelming crest of blinding pleasure that crashed over like a falling wave, drowning the two of them in all of it. Danny was shaking like a leaf, her thighs burning and her lungs dry as a desert.

Her orgasm strangled her, she wasn't even sure the noises that left her throat were hers. They were feral and desperate, sending her vocal chords sore.

Ben had a better way to keep quiet. Sinking his teeth into the juncture of Danny's neck was his usual routine when he came, his cock twitched as her cunt milked him for all he was worth. Ringing him out like a tea cloth as he balanced himself above her, both hands at each side of her head on the bed as he waited for his orgasm to fully roll through him.

For a few seconds, it was peaceful. Buried so deep in her pussy as his body was full of warmth and light.

It was a feeling he never wanted to end. Ever.

Ben crashed first. His stamina having been ripped out from under him, he caught himself on one arm before his chest could snap Danny's spine.

They both shivered when he pulled out of her, both their cum dripping out of her cunt and down the tip of his cock. Danny felt so empty. She was bruised and sore and she still hated that he wasn't inside of her still. That was true infatuation. He had managed to roll onto his side, unfortunately onto the shoulder that was haphazardly taped and stitched together.

He winced initially at the contact, but he didn't let it trouble him for long. Danny was already turning over, seeking to meet his eye to understand what his words had meant. He wasn't going to give her any answers, he didn't even know why he had said it.

Ben's eyes were trained upwards, his rib cage expanding and deflating heavily as he kept his lips parted to ease the process. Danny was heaving too, her precious little lungs having to work twice as hard as his. Ben's glance was quick, but he took at peek at her. Glancing up at him through damp lashes, her bare chest facing him as her eyes didn't stray from his face for even a second. He hated that he got caught in her stare, but at the same time, no one had ever looked at him the way Danny did.

Her brows furrowed for a moment, her hand coming up and her fingers stretching out till they reached his face, tracing from his temple to the upper part of his cheek. "Your eye is bruising." The concern was evident on her face, almost a slight twist of anger in her pout. Ben saw that face on her very rarely.

Ben didn't want to speak of it. It was late, or early.

His hand took hers away from his eye, weaving their fingers together and finally brining it to his lips.

"Forget about it Kitten."


	20. 𝚂𝙰𝚈 𝙼𝚈 𝙽𝙰𝙼𝙴 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙴𝙻𝚈

The hours crawled by, taunting Danny as she laid awake. A sound slumber didn't encompass her that night - the nightmares crept in each time she closed her eyes. Bloodied-distorted hands grabbed for her in the darkness, a cruel and mocking laugh hissing in her eardrums. Danny didn't know who it was, but she didn't dare to think. Their voice was hollow and menacing, such a low growl from their throat causing the hairs on her neck to stand on end.

She was glad that Ben slept. Although his body was fitful and unsettled, his golden honey eyes never even stuttered to open. His demons had sang him to sleep for so many years, he was accustomed to the octave of the lullaby's they mocked him with now.

They had 'fallen asleep' in each others arms, well, Ben had snaked a toned arm around Danny's waist and not let her move even an inch. He kept her pressed to his body as he fell into the world of sleep, his fingers twitching ever so often when he felt her shift against him.

Danny must have been laid awake for hours before she even dared to move, she had to be sure he was out for the count. She shimmied her way up the bed to rest her back against the headboard, Ben's hand falling into her lap as she did so. Danny didn't itch to hold his hand, she just - ghosted the back of his fingers and across the back of his hand. Letting her fingertips slide over his rough skin, over every dip, every scar and every mark. Just letting her skin rest against his while her brain turned itself inside out - over and over again.

She barely slept a wink - but her body shifted in and out of a skittish trance. If only for a few seconds when she closed her eyes - everything went quiet.

It didn't last; but it was better then nothing.

It was better then her eyes straining to stare across her room in the darkness, searching for a lurking shadow that might have crept through her window.

Danny watched Ben sleep too, the way his brows were knitted together and the way his jaw was pinched tight. His breath was hollow, his body jumping through his sleep like someone had grabbed at him in his dreams. When he did begin to stir, Danny would stroke a single finger or two across his forehead - smoothing out the lines and wrinkles of his frown. It was strange really. When Ben was awake, he barely let any emotion peek through his stone cold front - it was all shown through his eyes.

Yet when he was asleep, he had no control over the way his face fell or the way his body jerked.

When he slept - that's when the camouflage melted away.

There was no use staying there waiting for Ben to wake up - Danny wasn't sure what she should say to him. With barely an hours sleep under her belt she detangled herself from Ben, moving with care and silence so she wouldn't cause him to stir.

She dressed with haste, wincing when she dropped her belt and the metal buckle hit the floor with a thud. Danny just grabbed what she could, bleach-wash ripped jeans and a violet cami top with a wool cardigan to go over it. She had plans. Something for herself today; despite how much she cared for Ben - she had no intention of sticking around for him to wake up. Danny would have nothing to say to him when he did get up, things were so strange.

Days would bleed together, sometimes he wouldn't speak; other times she wouldn't. At the end of the day however, they kept coming back to one another. It was typical really. Their lives were so busy, but in such dramatically different ways. Where Danny could gush over her day and chew Ben's ear off with what she had painted or what Hackthorn had suggested in meetings - Ben couldn't do that. Even when Danny tried her best with subtlety to get him to open up and talk about his day, he would shut down. Switch off and go on the defensive, she knewwhat his days looked like - at least she tried her best to put herself in his shoes. She didn't think too in depth about the details, her stomach wouldn't tolerate that, not after what she'd seen so far.

Danny just knew that he wasn't some blood thirsty mad man out for some trophy killing, he did this city a service - in a way. He and Vicrul did something that not many others dared to do, although they killed, in the long run they were helping so many others.

The girl had gained that much knowledge from what Ben had let her in on, when he finally revealed his true name - he had told her that he had never killed anyone who didn't deserve it. She believed him.

That's all she could do. Believe in him. Danny knew no one else did. Time would only tell wether she was right in doing so or not, for now - her gut told her to stay. Things felt rough - but safe nonetheless.

She hadn't been in a real relationship before, not one where feelings were felt both ways. Through school - boys had been cruel, when college hit - things changed; but she was nothing more then a drunken fumble to them. Perhaps that's all they were to her too, Danny felt that's all she was worth in the end.

When Danny was fully dressed, she checked the time, her eyes almost dropping from their sockets when she saw how early it still was. An idea came to mind at that precise moment however, a decent thought that she knew future Ben would appreciate.

Grabbing her keys and her purse she skipped out of her apartment; her apartment that didn't look so bare and un-lived in anymore. The mass of muscle and dark lustful eyes sleeping just one room over had added his own touch over the last few months, Ben had wanted her to ditch the place altogether.

He hadn't quite said the words 'move in with me' - but he may as well have done. With a persuasive glint in his eye and a devilish smirk on his lips he had tried his best to get her to move out of the dismal little shit-shack she called an apartment.

When Danny had come up with clever little excuses to get herself out of moving in with him, out of pure fear of rushing, Ben had compromised - telling Danny to take her pick of a new place; completely and utterly covered by him of course. No matter the location or price, he swore it didn't matter and that his bank wouldn't even feel it. That's exactly what Danny feared, this big giant of a man - so strong and wealthy, so completely unworthy of her. She believed he deserved so much more, much more then even he knew. With a knot in her throat she told him she'd sleep on it, Ben barely let 24 hours tick by before he was on her like a cancer, calloused thumb already hovering over his phone on a particular ad for a bungalow not too far from his own place.

A sweet little cottage looking thing, although it was a recent build it looked so rustic and lovely.

White-cream with great stone arches holding up the exterior, a long run of garden that stretched through the perimeter and was rimmed by rosehip bushes and tulip shrubs.

It unnerved her if she was being honest, how Ben was so dismissive with his fortune. The way he gained it - she couldn't call it honest work, but it must be a hard trade to master to such degree as he had. Yet he was so willing and unbothered when it came down to it, with fancy bungalows and loud cars. It was just the trivial little things, right now, Danny knew he had a pair of his Oakley reading glasses sat on her coffee table - her coffee table smudged with water colour and stained with fruit tea. Each time he stayed the night he left his car out front, or at least one of his cars, he had the choice of a few at his disposal. It could have been keyed, puked on by a drunk bard or even worse - stolen.

But he didn't care, he left it there and skipped up the stairs to her flat with little concern for his vehicle sitting vulnerable on the curb side. That had been another thing - cars. Danny had never clicked onto what happened to her rusty little lunch box of a car, she assumed young wannabe gangsters or juveniles had been the ones to write it off. Cutting the breaks must have been a tough task, but somehow they managed. It was coincidental that the car had to be taken off the road, not even a few days after Vicrul had been the last one to drive it.

Danny was none the wiser, it only meant she had to walk a little bit further to the subway station or bat her eyelids at Poe to let her borrow his car.

She didn't mind it too much, it wasn't the end of the world - just a little inconvenient, as she had put it.

Oh no - Ben wasn't having that for very long.

He'd drive her to where he could himself when he wasn't busy, much to Danny's delight most of the time. On a number of occasions Ben had driven straight past her studio or Hackthorn's office building. With a furrow in her brow and a thump in her chest Danny could only watch the road ahead, wondering where on God's earth he was taking her

\- she soon found out. Just a little ways out of the city, a left turn down a rough dirt rode to a little hideaway under a huddle of slumping birch trees; as beautiful and picturesque as it was - Ben wasn't here for the view, or at least, not the one Danny was gasping over.

Ben wanted her gasping over something else, and by fucking God she did.

He'd ripped that seatbelt right off her, not giving so much as a fuck when he almost ripped it right out the interior. She was like a ragdoll, pulled over the centre console with little to no effort on Ben's behalf, he made her straddle his hips - grinning a smile and a half at his earlier request of her.

"Wear one of those pretty skirts I like." He had half growled - half sang to her this morning, pointing out said clothing with his finger as he directed it toward one in particular laid across Kitten's bed spread.

"It's gonna be a warm one today Kitten." He smirked.

Ben was so bold, he almost told her not to bother with panties either - but that would have made his intentions far too obvious. He wanted her off guard.

Kitten made him cum twice and he made her cum three times, purely to keep himself smug really.

In the drivers seat of his Mustang v8, black as night and as trim as the man who owned it. Ben had her ride him like a damn show pony, all fogged breaths and grabbing hands. His lips were latched to her neck, her hands were buried into the back of his scalp. Ben fucked up into her cunt and Danny cried out while she tried her best to meet his brutal pace - same shit different day. But fuck - it never got old.

At some point Ben had showed mercy, showering every bare inch of her skin in smothered kisses that she ate up and basked in. They caught their breath and stayed there for a short time, Ben's cock still buried so deep inside Kitten's pussy while she traced over his pink-kissed scar for the millionth time.

He closed his eyes when her fingertip traced over it, her fingers so soft and gentle with him.

She hated to ruin his fun - but she did actually have a meeting to attend that day, how many he had made her late to for similar reasons to this - Danny had lost count. With flushed cheeks and strewn hair she broke through the doors to Kade's office with less then a few seconds to spare - it was like Ben knew. Not jealous, but letting those around her know that she was accounted for, that precious little Kitten already had someone plenty capable to satisfy her.

The man had tried his best to gift Danny her own beast to drive, she was having none of it - even going as far to argue about global warming. That's how low she stooped just to stop Ben from splashing cash on her, the amount of guilt she would feel of Ben bought a car for her would definitely upset the stratosphere - that much was obvious. Although he dropped the subject for a short while, it still didn't stop Ben.

With a heavy heart she accepted, trying her best to persuade him that a replacement of her old car would suffice. He agreed. But Ben was a slimy little shit, a pinch of salt should be taken with his words. Or maybe a lot more then just a fucking pinch.

He dropped a text to her phone while she was working that he'd pick her up, even take her out for food if she wanted. After a stressful day of artblock that little text had made her smile, and she agreed.

When Danny had agreed, she never thought she'd skip from the creaky door of her studio building and see Ben sat on the bonnet of a crisp white Audi a3,

a pleasant smile on his face and a set of keys snagged between his deft fingers - held high for the world to see them. Danny cried, and cried and cried.

Like a dumb little baby all mushy and overwhelmed, she held her face in her hands and wished for the embarrassment to leave, hoping her knees didn't give out from the unfamiliar feeling thrumming through her tired little body. Much to her disgust, people began to stop in the street, a man walking his dog confused as he walked past the stairs Danny was crying at the top of - a young girl and presumably her mother on the opposite side of the road cooing and awwing as if the man were purposing.

She wanted to shrivel up at that point, fall right through the concrete and be swallowed by the earth.

And Ben had the nerve and audacity to laugh, giggling like an annoying school boy as he watched her flush with embarrassment and happiness.

It was hard to feel guilty at that point, never in her life had anyone bestowed such a gift upon her.

Danny knew that the guilt would creep in later, perhaps when she tried to sleep or shower, but for now - she'd show her appreciation to Ben.

Because fucking hell he deserved it.

Ben had to come to her, climbing the steps with such a slow pace as to annoy her even more. When he was finally in front of her, she had clung to him like her life depended on it - she climbed that man like a sloth climbed a tree. Ben buried his face into her hair as she squeezed him tighter, unwilling to let up as her tears stained his neck.

Ben called time - grabbing her hand and tugging her down those steps with an excitement he hadn't shown around her before, like a young boy waking up on Christmas to a brand new bike.

It was sad to think that Ben had probably never had that.

Danny had been too pussy to drive it to the restaurant Ben had picked out, more excuses that she had quickly conjured up to feed Ben.

Sneakily but cleverly, the man had given her no choice on the way home. Danny didn't drink because of work tomorrow, but Ben had a day off. Throughout their dinner he had ordered himself a few glasses of red wine - persuading Danny to have at least one, which she did; to top it all off - Ben instead had a glass of aged bourbon while he watched Kitten eat a fruit parfait for dessert.

When it came time to leave the man wrapped an arm around Danny's shoulders, pulling her so close and whispering something in her ear, a tone that had her toes curling in her shoes. "I'm over the limit Kitten."

Thankfully the drive back to Ben's place had been completely uneventful, the city was sleeping and the roads were surprisingly quiet. It took some getting used to, the Audi was more reactive and so much louder then her last car - but she quickly got adjusted. Even pushing way past the speed limit on the stretching hill up-to Ben's culdasac, with Ben's expert instruction of course.

She hadn't felt unnerved when Ben's warm hand found it's way to her bare thigh as she drove, his fingers didn't wander or seek to distract her. It was more of a comfort, a reassuring pressure to let her know how well she was doing - his tipsy mind couldn't seem to find the right words to soothe her.

Danny made it outside her flat, wobbling down the stairs from how sore she was. With how early Ben had turned up this morning, there was no wonder she was in pain - it had barely been a few hours since they fucked. The resounding pain of his presence was throbbing between her legs, her thighs burning with strain as she stumbled slightly down the stairs.

With the oncoming autumn weather - Danny took pleasure in how easy it was to cover up Ben's map of marks and claim-staked bruises lining her throat and chest. She was more often then not wrapped up in wool cardigans and soft scarves, making it easy to keep her love bites and blemishes covered.

Today was no different, her top was a bold choice after last night, but her cardigan and wool scarf should be enough to keep things hidden.

Her concealer was incapable at performing such a task anymore, it was now too toned for her skin during the colder months and Ben's bruises were the product of immense pressure. During sex it never bothered Danny, it only heightened the experience - she wasn't ashamed to admit she'd grown to love it.

But the aftermath of such foreplay left her sore to the touch, Ben's lips did great to soothe away the pain on her throat in the afterglow - she was still yet to find a remedy for when Ben was unavailable.

The girl made it to her car and didn't hesitate to jump in, the weather was bitter and harsh today - New York was damp with fog and possible oncoming rain, Danny could smell it on the breeze.

With a short drive she arrived at her destination, smug with how easy it now was to get around without mooching off of Poe or Ben. It gave her a new independence, one that she thought she had lost. Using the spare change from her purse she entered a particular coffee place that was just a few streets away - paying her bill and thanking the perky barista who had served her.

Just as quick as Danny had left - she arrived back home, goodies in hand as she skipped back up the stairs. Outside the multiple layers were a saving grace, but back in the heated walls of her apartment building - Danny had to admit that the cardio workout of her flight of stairs had a sweat sweeping across her brow. The girl glanced at the clock - grinning at how her timing of things had worked in her favour. With footsteps as quiet as a mouse she tiptoed back inside, setting her goods down on the breakfast bar separating the kitchen and living room.

For a split second - Danny almost contemplated waking Ben up, she itched to do it, his gravely morning voice and delicious smirk were the best thing to wake up to in a morning - but part of her knew she'd never get away from him. Not with his insatiable appetite, Danny had other people to think about right now - Ben could come second, maybe just this once.

She checked her purse for the third time, ensuring she had everything she needed before heading back out again. Another round of her stairs and Danny was back in the groggy lobby of her apartment building, fully expecting to have a big tired bear at her heels. Because how dare she leave him in bed alone - unfair if ever it was.

But Ben wasn't there. Not even a peep. Dead to the world - for now anyways.

Danny let her eyes stray from the road while she waited at a stop light, she forgot how beautiful the city was sometimes. The crime rate was ungodly high and bad stuff happened in broad daylight -

she knew this. Nether the less, the bright lights and busy bodies made up for the darkness slumbering in the cities' back alley slums. People were unique and colourful, most of them pleasant and friendly with one another - the odd Joe would throw a curse a strangers way, but that was just typical. The once green trees that lines the streets were now naked and withered, leaves of brown - orange and red littering the damp sidewalks down below the branches.

Inspiration was everywhere, clear to those who wished to see it - to those who could understand it.

Danny often forgot to look at the bigger picture, she was an inevitable piece in an elaborate puzzle - she wasn't significant; no one really was. Not on their own. Only together could something strong stand, only together would things turn out okay. For so many years Danny had tried to fix her own puzzle alone, each time she tried, it failed. Things were different now, her friends were here, Ben was too.

That once dark pit of worry and sorrow that sat heavy in her chest was beginning to shrink - slowly but surely becoming smaller and smaller the more she realised she didn't have to fight her battles alone anymore. From now on - Danny wasn't alone.

-

"So he isn't your boyfriend?" Finn barely managed his question through a mouthful of hash browns, his dark brows quirked downward and his lip curled as he chewed his food. Danny almost spat her juice out at him, this was the one subject she didn't want to come up - but rolling up to breakfast in her new ride was bound to raise a few eyebrows. Poe was dismissive of it, understanding and reading Danny's body language well when Finn first piped up about it. Poe was good in that sense, as overtly flirty and outgoing as he was - he had a softer side, he was understanding and gentle. Expertly perspective too.

Finn on the other hand - he was young like Danny, still learning life lessons as he went along; the man hadn't yet learned what questions were okay to ask and which ones weren't. Neither did he understand how Danny tried to skip around his questions - it only made him press harder for questions, needing to be filled in on all the juicy details. Danny choked her drink back down her gullet, her brain struggling to come up with an answer for Finn.

"Well not exactly." She tried, rubbing the back of her neck with one hand. Both Finn and Poe had frowned at that, the girl had almost forgotten about before - the morning after she found jake, the creepy text sent from her phone to Poe's telling him to come and get her, yet - she had no phone on her person when he found her. If Poe knew that the same man that had left her crying, bruised and half naked in the streets was the same man who had bought her the car - well; he probably wouldn't be sat here.

Poe protected his own - Danny was one of his own, sister from another mister or whatever it is you say.

"You're just fuck buddies then?" Finn sought, popping a strawberry in his mouth that he'd stolen from his boyfriend's plate. Danny could taste something sour on her tongue, it made her feel sick, she wanted so badly to tell them everything - but she didn't know just how much she could let slip.

"We're not fuck buddies." She was on the defensive, her voice didn't rise but her tone certainly switched - a harsher warning for Finn to acknowledge.

Poe had swooped in to save them both from each other, switching the subject and talking about something completely off topic. He spoke of the club, preening over how much better things had gotten with the switch in management, the rates were better and it was an all round better experience to be a part of. He still manned the bar but he also helped out the new manager, he had been offered the position himself but he politely declined - not exactly his forte, he preferred to stick to his cocktails.

Finn was given an opportunity to speak about himself too, partying and studying had become distant for him over the last few months apparently. Work and relationships had become his saving grace, it was clear that both men loved each other - their natural chemistry was so lovely to witness. They weren't overly mushy or awkwardly silent, they were just themselves, and so unapologetic about it too. Danny loved that about them.

As more food flooded the table so did more conversation, the trio talked about everything and nothing. Danny spoke of her work and of Hackthorn, reminding herself of how much she thought she had embarrassed herself the first time she met him.

This was nice. Taking a break like this, sure downtime with Ben was the perfect remedy to melt away her stresses, but she couldn't help but feel she was neglecting her friends. Especially one in particular, speaking over the phone with Paige didn't compare to seeing her in person. Danny just wanted to squeeze her, to kiss her cheekbones and dry away her tears like Paige had done so many times for her.

Danny was glad to hear she was on the mend, sure she was okay physically (for the most part), it was the mental stress that had shot through Paige's chest like a cauterised bullet wound. The usually headstrong and out going Paige was now broken and colourless, a shell of her former self - like a ghost.

It shattered Danny's heart - it really did, Paige had picked her up so many times, she didn't like things being the other way around. Danny didn't feel strong enough to hold Paige up, but she knew she had to, she owed her that and so much more.

But - as if on cue, nice things don't always last.

The chosen destination for the trio's breakfast catch up was a small and quirky little diner just north from Central Park, it was a little further out the way for Danny but she made the exception for the boys as it was closer to them, she owed them this one really.

With quirky booths to sit in and clever neon signs above their heads the three friends enjoyed breakfast, waffles smothered in syrup with sunny side up eggs and rashers of crispy bacon; hash browns on the side and fruit salad bowls to be enjoyed too. It was fatty, lavish and delicious.

Ben didn't stay so toned and fit from eating like that, the man could survive till lunch with little more then a coffee or a smoothie in his system. Danny woke up famished, he found it astonishing how much food such a tiny package could put away. Not once did Ben ever make her feel bad about it however, he didn't care how big or little she was - wether or not her hip bones protruded from under her skin or if she had cellulite on her thighs. None of that mattered to Ben. None of it. If anything, he fed her at any given opportunity. When they first met she had been so light, from the first night of sex with her it surprised him how easy she was to literally toss around. Ben was never one to body shame, but this was a matter of her health, if she couldn't afford her food bills - then he'd change that.

The more time she spent with him, the more weight she gained - it was only a small amount, but Ben was happy that her ribs no longer beat so closely under her skin; and that her cheeks looked more full and bright. The man gave her food off his own plate for God's sake, he felt bad that most of his meals consisted of protein and vegetables - so he treated her at any given opportunity he had. An extra session in the gym after a night of eating filet mignon steak with Kitten was more then fucking worth it.

Danny had just popped a forkful of buttery waffle into her mouth when she heard an annoying tapping noise on the thick glass window not too far from where the trio were sat enjoying their meal.

From the booth - Danny couldn't see what was at the window, the back of the seat was a little too high and she was facing away from it, whereas Poe and Finn could see exactly what was there. From the looks on the boys faces, Danny guessed maybe a junkie or a homeless person. As sad as it was, there were a lot of folk on the city streets, most of them there as a result of their poor choices whereas others had simply just run out of luck. So it wouldn't have been surprising for her to turn around to see a dirty old man with yellow teeth and narrowed eyes, itching for his next fix of whatever he could get his grubby hands on.

What would have been surprising to see -

A six-foot-two German covered in tattoos and wearing his signature shit-eating smirk, those steel grey eyes practically glowing against the autumnal back drop of the street he stood upon. It had been a long while since Danny had seen him, after everything with Jake, then Kylo and now Ben.

She couldn't lie and say she hadn't missed his charm, he had a novel way of making dark situations light again. That kiss had never played on her mind that much, not deeply, she had fleeting moments where she questioned what would have happened if not for Kylo snatching her up first. Would Vicrul have entertained her? Most likely not. Vicrul had been the peace maker, he had been the one to reel Kylo back in when he got angry - he had been the one to take Danny aside and let her vent to him, Vicrul had been honest with her since the start. Danny would never forget that. But Danny was happy with the man she had now, yes Vicrul had wedged his way into her heart - she couldn't deny that, just not in the same way Ben Solo had.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, or just think of him. The girl could have kicked herself for not seeing him sooner, outside in the cool-crisp air of the morning Ben was slouched against the side of her Audi - cigarette between his lips as he dipped his head down so that the end of it could kiss the flame licking from his lighter, his big brute hands cupping around his smoke so the flame didn't blow out in the frigid breeze. A puffed cloud of smoke blew from his lungs as he inhaled and exhaled again, his eyes scanning across through the window as he stuffed his lighter back into his pocket - those deep burning eyes finding no issue at locating Danny.

The smirk that followed his eyes was merciless, she could read that man like a damn book. It looked like someone wasn't happy about being left in bed this morning - by the curl of his lip and the furrow of his brow Danny could tell. Livid.

Danny wanted to smile, but she fought the urge, biting her lip and swivelling back around in her booth chair as her cheeks swelled with embarrassment. Both Finn and Poe were confused, until Finn was spitting out his food, some even shooting out of his nose before he could shield his face to stop it. Danny and Poe shot up from their seats to save Finn from choking to death, not wanting to admit how funny the situation should be if their friend and boyfriend wasn't smacking his chest and coughing violently. All the while - Vic didn't stop his infernal knocking, his actions beginning to disturb other customers and attract the attention of a few waitress attempting to go about their duties.

Danny had no choice but to excuse herself, wiping her lips with a napkin and scooting away from the table, ensuring Finn was okay before she did.

She so wanted to roll her eyes as she stormed over to the window, but she knew better then to do that, Ben was like a hawk - Vicrul too. They would see her gesture for sure, and she didn't want to think about what they'd do to embarrass her if they saw.

Luckily for Danny, where Vicrul was stood behind the glass, there was no one seated in front of it on Danny's side. She was able to go right upto it, if not for the slab of glass, she would have been toe to toe with the insufferable German.

The man frowned slightly, his expression switching to a smirk quickly as he nodded his head to the side,

gesturing for Danny to come outside to him.

Danny stood fast, a pout on her lip and a scowl on her brow. The girl folded one arm over her chest, the other she used to point over towards her table; where her friends were trying their best to be inconspicuous and spy on the exchange.

Vic only smiled wider, jerking his head again. Danny didn't smile, only softened her features as she shook her head - raising a single hand and swivelling on her heel to retreat back to the boys.

That's when he knocked instead, the noise rang straight through Danny's bones and shook her core, she didn't even have to turn her head to see it was him - she just knew. With the tiniest peak from the side of her peripherals, Danny saw Ben stood there, different clothes to what he was wearing last night. Obviously. The blood stains weren't exactly in this season, Danny was surprised he was even up and about - she knew he was a tough nut to crack but anyone else with that wound slashed across their back should have been bed bound for days - but not her Ben.

Today he was wearing dark slacks with a thin leather belt, a deep forest green shirt that she was sure she had never seen him wear before. Ben topped it off with a long dark trench coat, it was woolly and thick - bobbled slightly from how much he's worn it recently. If the coat didn't make him look criminal - the scar did today. It was kissed with cold - a slightly darker pink today then it usual was. It looked sore and irritated, like the man had been scratching at it.

Much to her better judgment. Danny went outside - she practically lived with the man, if she disobeyed him now she would only pay for it later - wether that was sexually or verbally - who knew.

She just knew it was futile creating a situation out of whatever this was, her friends were understanding and they knew she wouldn't ditch them.

Five minutes and she'd be done. That was it.

The door chime of the diner jangled merrily overhead as she stepped out - immediately wrapping her arms around herself at the unexpected cold, it was sunny out but still so bitter in the air. Danny hadn't thought to quickly slip her cardigan back on from where she'd ripped it off earlier, Finn's joke about meat sweats from the bacon were utterly true unfortunately - and he also hadn't let his knowledge of the bruises ringing her neck go unknown.

They stood out like violet-Ivy clouds littering her pale throat, Poe had quickly changed the subject.

Ben was just stepping back over to the bonnet of Danny's car when she was nearing closer, ciggy still pluming smoke from his lips as he cast his eyes over towards her, watching every step she took.

Danny had been looking straight back at him, her own eyes scanning for any indication at wether he was annoyed or not - she hadn't seen the attack coming. Vic's arm was around her shoulder, a tight grip as he reeled her in so she was forced into his side. She had yelped but he only gripped tighter, squeezing the ever-living shit out of her at his attempt of a hug. Using his spare hand, he gripped her cheeks using his thumb and index fingers, wiggling her face from said to side as he made mock cooing noises. Danny ended up laughing at his gesture, but that didn't stop her trying to bat him away playfully. The man let her go, bringing her in for a real hug this time. She gladly returned it, a deep inhale of his citrus - smoke cologne filling her lungs and nose as he held her close to his chest.

Her arms could barely wrap around his torso, but the wool material of his turtleneck felt heavenly beneath her fingers - she had to admit.

Vicrul had been the first to pull away - taking the opportunity to tuck a stray fly away hair that blew into her face. Danny's attention was solely on him, but the German let his eyes fly over Danny's head for just a split second. The subdued look on Ben's face was a strange sight, usually he would be seething at the sheer thought of Vic touching his Kitten let alone watching and letting it happen.

Both men knew what was happening, and perhaps it scared the both of them. They just wouldn't admit it.

"Looking as good as ever Kitten." Vic husked, the water vapour on his breath permeating the air.

Danny smiled. "Looking sharp yourself, Vic." Danny's teeth chattered slightly as she spoke, using her hands and rubbing them together to gage some warmth. It made her jump, but the heavy weight of something being wrapped over her shoulders was welcome. Ben's coat. She had turned her neck to say thank you, but suddenly - she was being dragged with him as he retreated. Ben had stuffed his free hand into one of the pockets and walked off, forcing Danny to follow with a stumble as he outstretched his other arm towards his comrade - offering him what was left of his cigarette. The girl couldn't really do much about it, she was already being pulled by the hips to nestle in between Ben's thighs as he was now fully sat on her bonnet. Vicrul followed with strong steps, continuing to talk away between puffs of smoke as if either of them were listening, both Danny and Ben were facing him now - Danny sitting between Ben's strong legs as her whole body flushed crimson red.

The man's heat at her back was suffocating, only worsened when he hooked his chin into the crook of her neck, humming in agreement with something Vic had said. He smelt of cigarettes and shampoo - her shampoo to be exact. Any trait of toxic masculinity was unheard of with Ben, he'd been a shoulder to cry on for Vic all the way through the awakening of his true sexuality when he was still just a child - some hibiscus and grapefruit shampoo definitely wouldn't bother him.

Danny could feel Ben's heartbeat drumming against her spine, a steady and even rhythm. He was calm. His intake and outtake of breath matching as it blew through wisps of Danny's hair dangling by her ear. The girl tucked her hands into the hems of his coat, pulling it tighter around herself to keep out the cold. "What are you two doing here?" She queried with a shiver, Ben's hands dipping under the shroud of fabric nestled over Kitten's tiny body. Danny could feel the cold of his fingers through the denim of her jeans, his hands tracing up and down her covered thighs.

Vicrul was stood with his back to the window, keeping Danny and Ben hidden from the reaches of Poe's and Finn's eyes as they tried to peep from the other side of the glass window. "It's been too long Danny, just thought I'd drop in to see you."

She could hear him smile, the dimples on his stubble-covered cheeks tugging into a handsome smirk.

Danny raised a brow, looking the German up and down before sighing in defeat. "Well - fair enough on your part." She gifted, moving to twist her body with a jerky movement that hurt her back in the process - now angled at the hips and facing Ben, the girl narrowed her eyes at him.

"What's your excuse, Kylo?" She sought - a present playfulness swimming behind her eyelids as she batted her lashes up at Ben. Up to now - Danny hadn't had to play pretend with Ben's identity, she'd barely seen anything of Vicrul over the last month or two, so she hadn't had to remember to keep Ben dead. The girl didn't really understand why Vicrul couldn't just be let into what was happening, but she supposed Ben must have his reasons - so she didn't pry, she agreed to follow along with whatever white lie Ben had to conjure up to feed the German for the time being.

Ben had smiled at her switch in tone, gripping at her flesh hard beneath the shield of his long coat.

No one around them knew what was happening, not Vicrul, not the lady walking her dog along the streets, not the men hovering over the booth covers inside the diner. Just him and her. How they liked it.

"Do I really need to answer that Kitten?"

He growled, purposely switching his eyes from Danny's to Vicrul's - always proving a point.

Danny just hummed, settling back between his legs and meeting Vicrul's eye once again.

She was just glad things weren't awkward after last night, she couldn't get the image of Ben's wound out of her head. The blood. The stitches. The whiskey.

All of it. How many more times would she be forced to patch her lover back together when he came back from the wars? How many more times would she be able to do that before it all got too much?

Danny didn't know. Just the thought of it made her heart squeeze and her throat dry, she didn't want to think about what the future held for the two of them.

Ben had held her close to his chest and slept fitfully plagued by nightmares of his past, while Danny laid awake to hide away from the twisted images of history potentially repeating itself.

The man's life had been full of so much deceit and destruction, lies fed to him since he was barely knee high - spewing hatred about how unworthy he was.

Danny didn't want him to leave this world thinking those words to be true, she wanted to see him grow old - for him to see the world in a way that wasn't bathed in crimson. Danny wanted him to finally see his hands clean, not covered in blood with dirt beneath his nails representing the hard buried truths that he had yet to uncover.

Ben sat up a little straighter, a noticeable wince of his body jerking against Danny's back as he stuttered slightly. The girl couldn't see - but Ben's eyes were piercing straight through Vicrul's.

"How about you go keep her friends company while I steal our Kitten for a sec?" Ben looked as if he was staring pointedly at Vic, but from this angle, he could see two men watching them from a booth inside. Both of them - he recognised.

He recognised Poe as the bar tender from the strip joint, the night Jake had first tried to attack Kitten, Poe had served him that night. A friendly enough guy - and a flirt just like Vicrul, that's the first person he reminded him of. He and the German had such similar characters, he was half surprised Vic hadn't already tried his luck in that territory - he regulated the club enough times to pick up the Guatemalan's number if he wanted it.

The other man sitting at the table, he knew for sure that he was the same man who had caught him in the alleyway. The night he fucked Danny in the filthy back alley of that club, he was also the same man who he had seen his girl grinding all over on the dance floor. Danny just simply didn't know she was his back then. Ben had mixed feelings about Finn, the former not even knowing the latters name like he knew Poe's. While Ben was so caught up in Kitten, Finn had stood there as stark as a ghost. Unmoving and unknowing of what to do, Ben knew that Finn sensed danger - Ben practically fucking radiated the stuff.

He had every reason to be afraid, but he was scared for Danny instead. Praying to god that she was okay while this tall mass murderer had her pinned against the dirty brick of a city building. Only - neither Finn or Danny knew the real truth back then; Ben really was a killer. Yes Kitten now knew but Finn still had no idea what kind of man one of his now best friends was wrapped up in, if only he knew that the gut feeling he felt all those months ago had been so painfully right.

Vicrul turned around, his eyes following the same line as Ben's. "You want me to go inside?" He asked with a quirked brow, as if he thought Ben were joking. The look on Ben's scarred face was enough to tell him otherwise, his eyes were cut throat - yet still holding that challenging edge as they always did.

"You got it." The German spoke curtly with a click of his tongue, index and middle finger waving a salute from his forehead as he swivelled on his heel and began languidly striding over towards the diners entry way. Danny watched him go, her stomach turning over as her tongue pressed into the side of her cheek. Before her mind could begin to rattle off any possible scenarios could incur soon, Ben smokey voice rasped in her ear. It seemed he didn't care about his public display of affections, his current ministrations were rather tame for him, either way - Danny liked that he made their relationship with one another clear, she didn't miss wandering eyes that would cast their glances towards him. Wether they were out on a grocery run or out for dinner, eyes followed him everywhere - it came with the territory. He couldn't hide, a 6'4 mass of dark mystery wrapped in healing scars - some fresher then others.

"Thank you for the breakfast this morning." He breathed his words into the side of Danny's hair, his prominent nose prodding just under her ear. 

His arms squeezed around her a little tighter, Ben's hands still prying at the flesh of her thighs beneath the coat - not attempting to make his sexual desire for her known at that moment, it was more of a warming gesture - he'd seen how much she was shivering. Danny twisted her neck to find his lips, it took Ben slightly by surprise but he welcomed it nonetheless. The kiss was fleeting but warm, a novel way of saying pleases and thank yous.

Just as Danny was about to speak, Ben dipped his head for another kiss, this time one of his hands abandoned her thigh to splay his fingers under her jaw - allowing him to deepen the kiss if even slightly before he felt his little Kitten squirm in his lap.

Ben let her go, Danny now able to lean back and drink in the filthy smirk stretching across his lips.

"You're very welcome." She just about managed her words, her lips and cheeks dusted pink.

Ben's smirk tugged wider. "Although." He began, his hand that was still hidden beneath the coat shifting, moving across the apex of Danny's thighs and coming to slide between them. His nose was pressing into her cheek, his lips rasping against her skin.

"I was craving something else." Ben punctuated his final word by palming her pussy with his hand, a rough squeeze that had her thighs clenching around his wrist. He could tell she was trying to keep quiet, those pretty sea bream eyes of hers sporadic and jittery as they darted to the figures walking by them in the street. Ben let her go, nipping at the lobe of her ear as he retreated and straightened his posture.

The man chuckled when he felt Danny's hand move to his under the jacket, she had never put her arms through the arm holes of his coat - all the more easy for her to grab his hand and interlock their fingers, settling them back against her thigh before he could remove them.

A few comfortable minutes rolled by. Honking horns and city folk grumbles bleeding through the background noise of the busy city streets around the two of them. It was white noise to them now.

Ben struggled some nights to fall asleep at Danny's places, the rumbling subway buried a couple hundred feel below the concrete was still so loud, echoing in the evening time of rest. He had been too spoilt in the last few years, if that's what you could call it, tucked away up in his giant nest of a home across the hills. Away from the noise and the people. Away from the smog and smell. Peaceful. Almost.

Danny made it easier for him to adjust, the evenness of her breathing as she fell to sleep would always comfort him through the vibrations of the mass tube transport below - his eyelids falling not long after hers nowadays.

Ben could feel the rise and fall of her chest now, as they sat there, watching the world tick by them.

He could feel the swell and deflate of her delicate rib cage as she breathed evenly. Calm. Tranquil.

Ben couldn't help but feel that way around her too, as brash and brute as he was - his body just naturally mimicked hers. Picked up little habits along the way, little ticks she had that he couldn't help but notice.

She caught his attention when she hummed, a low and soft sound that Ben barely even heard himself. His eyes fell, able to see one side of her face clearly. Her eyes were closed and her chin tipped up slightly, the pink on her skin from the cold breeze made her freckles stand out - he saw. He half wondered if she even knew herself that she had made a sound.

"Thank you."

He said it again. A lower octave, a slight gruff in his throat. Ben felt Danny's neck jut, and he could feel her eyes on him - but he kept his eyes forwards.

The cogs turning in Danny's head were so loud, her thoughts buffering as she thought over what he had just said. "You already said thank you?" She pointed out with a crease in her brow, her lip quirking up in that way it always did when she was confused.

For a split second - Ben cast his eyes down to hers.

He regretted it instantly. He'd grown weak to her.

Every microscopic fibre of Danny's being controlled him, and she didn't know it. The power she held over him could bring down mountains, and the girl was completely fucking oblivious to it. Ben shielded his eyes away from her again, letting only the side of his face and underside of his jaw be present to her eyes.

"I'm not talking about breakfast." Danny felt his fingers squeeze around her own, their joined hands fisting tighter into one another. Her little gesture of kindness this morning had come in the form of a muffin and smoothie, a black hazelnut coffee too for good measure. It wasn't hearty food. It was Ben food. He was the type of guy that enjoyed those muffins with everything in them, dried fruits - seeds and all the other 'good stuff' as he called it.

His smoothies were the same too, more spinach then anything else with a banana or two thrown into the mix too. Along with everything else in the apartment too, bar the kitchen sink apparently.

Danny had gotten Ben his favourites to wake up to, call it a little piece offering after last night.

She didn't feel like she had to apologise, she wasn't in the wrong, it was her way of clearing the air .

Danny hummed in acknowledgment, unsure of what exactly to say to him. Last night was scary, it would be forever formed into the fibre of her memory.

Ben was used to the blood and the gore and the haste of his lifestyle, Danny wasn't. For him to expect her to be okay with everything happening would be unfair on his part, so he didn't - he never wanted to go to her in the first place. Her apartment had apparently been the first place his blood-deficient half drunk conscience wanted to go. So he went.

He never expected for them to fight, for him to rile her to the point she wanted him gone. But he never expected her to sit there and physically patch him together herself either, Danny just did those sorts of things, selfless acts to towards others.

"I was rude last night. I didn't mean to be."

Ben's voice carried a little softer now, as if his shame was turning it that way. He still didn't look at her, he would know what expression she wore. The one with her lips parted and her little brows furrowed.

"You're rude when you have a drink." Danny couldn't take back her words, in the past, she wouldn't have dared to ever say something like that. Especially to Ben. It felt like a personal jab at his character, rather rude of herself if she was honest.

The man didn't take it that way, in these last few months, he'd learned to listen better. Really listen.

A small chuckle. "Then I won't drink." He gifted. Danny moved to face forward, only just now realising Ben had been watching her all the while through their reflections in the window before them.

"You and I both know that's not true." She chimed.

The man clicked his tongue, "If you like me better sober, then I'll stay sober." He meant it. He didn't say it would come easy, but God loves a trier.

The girl pursed her lips in thought, squeezing Ben's hand after a few moments.

"How about we compromise?" She urged, voice as soft as silk, like always. Her words intrigued Ben, he couldn't lie. A hum rumbled his throat,

"I'm listening." He growled, leaning forward so his chest was flush with her back as he held her close. Ever so close. She laughed breathily as he squeezed her whole body tight, his hair brushing across her cheek.

"You can keep your whiskey, but you quit smoking."

Both habits were as bad as one another. Nasty habits that needed to kick the bucket, booze was the least of Danny's worries with Ben. She would rather him sink his feelings with a thumb or two of whiskey then chain smoke two-packs of Marlboro ciggys a day.

His drinking could be managed, his lungs couldn't.

With such a firm grip on his fitness he was throwing it all away with his substance abuse, a glass of wine at the end of a long day was different to half a bottle of bourbon to chase away the nightmares.

Danny didn't want to be the controlling type of broad that bought up alcohol and cigarettes in fights or tiffs, but Ben was being careless, and he would suffer in the long run. It must have taken Ben a few minutes to mull over Danny's words in his head, weighing up his options probably. Danny bit her lip as she waited for him to respond, watching him in the glassy reflection of the window in front of her. Two little words fell from his lips, two little words that were music to Danny's ears.

More then Ben even knew. 

"I'll try."

-

The gallery was nothing like Danny had imagined it.

It was even more beautiful. Even more elegant and well adorned with centre pieces, portraits and canvases. Most of them posted in thick gold-metallic frames that looked as if they'd been pulled right out of a fairytale castle. The room was lit for the occasion with the room slightly more dim then it should be, strategically placed spot lights and lamps illuminated the art pieces and made the scattered sculptures glow a gorgeous honey golden hue.

Never in a million years did Danny picture herself standing here, amongst some of the best with one of her own pieces sitting tall and proud on one of the ivory plastered walls. It all felt like a dream. Hazy.

She had shed a few tears when she first helped set out the gallery this morning, seeing her piece hung up there, it made her breath catch in her throat.

To Danny, it didn't stand out, not amongst some of the ornate sculptures of withered faces or the picturesque landscapes captured on the felt canvases. The girl had two of her own pieces featured, both customised special to fit with Hackthorn's theme for this month. Identity.

A tricky subject it so turns out. Danny had wasted three days before she returned to Hackthorn's office to ask for more guidance on what exactly to put down on her canvas. He had quirked a brow, a silent nod of judgement. Danny knew it. She was qualified in this field, and yet, she still needed to ask for help.

The man had stood from his brown leather chair, his slender frame towering over his oiled wooden desk as he strode over to one of his bookcases. Danny had watched him scan it carefully, the drawn out seconds felt like hours really, but finally; he found what he was looking for. An old sapphire-leather bound book that was cracked and aged with wear was placed in Danny's waiting hands. A look of confusion stretched on her face when she saw no title sitting on the spine of the book itself.

The man hadn't said another word after that.

Danny had silently and awkwardly excused herself with a meek wave as she departed from his cold office, with the book clutched tightly to her chest she had skipped right back to her studio; keeping herself tucked up there for the remainder of her day as she scanned through the book gifted to her in utter amazement and awe.

Standing here now, it wasn't a saddening feeling. This was perhaps one of her greatest achievements, but, she felt empty. Had her whole life led to this moment? Stood alone watching her painting as if it would begin speaking to her. She half wished it would, hoping it would guide to her what next.

She didn't know what to think, Danny felt guilty. This was more then what she wanted, and it still wasn't enough. It was a burn at the back of her throat, a lump in her stomach. Like a greedy pit.

She nearly leapt out of her skin when someone's body brushed past her bare shoulder. Danny had chosen something quite lovely to wear, it was beautiful, but still professional. A raven black - off the shoulder dress that came to just above the knee and cinched at the waist. Hackthorn was at her side, mimicking Danny as he also gazed at her painting. Danny didn't move to look at him directly, only stealing a peak out of the corner of her eye and smiling softly.

That man always looked so fetching. Tonight would be no different, his suit was half white - half burgundy. Something completely off the cuff but certainly dashing, she wouldn't be telling Ben to buy one like it anytime soon, but it certainly did suit her boss, he was skilled at pulling off such quirky pieces.

He had some square glasses sitting on his nose that had a dainty metal frame, no doubt some designer brand Danny wasn't able to pronounce properly.

"So you did study the book I gave you after all ."

His words weren't as questioning as they had intended to be, it was more of an observation on Hackthorn's behalf. Danny turned her neck to look at him, surprised to see he had done the same.

Her cheeks flared a rosy pink and she quickly looked towards the wall where her piece was sat, a small smile pulled at her lips.

"It is a wonderful book." She stole a glance at him out the side of her eye, seeing his eyes still trained to the visible side of her face. "I'm honoured that you let me study it, I can tell it is very personal to you."

An amused laugh mixed with a scoff blew past Hackthorn's lips. "Merely something that I entertained when I was no older then you, I wouldn't call it personal." His eyes fell back to the painting, his keen sense for the crafts fishing out little details and nods to the book in question.

"Then you won't mind when I tell you it's ruined, pot of water spilled all over it, I couldn't save it." Danny was smiling, a quirk in her brow visible as she watched as Kade's shoulders tensed and eye twitched. "Don't get your panties in a knot, it's fine. And it's definitely personal."

The man tried to hide his amusement, he was glad that Danny was allowing herself to relax. She was usually so weary of him, constantly shrinking in his presence or turning shy whenever they discussed plans for the gallery.

Hackthorn knew he was slightly intimidating, he was tall and silent, slightly broody too. He always had been, growing up an only child sent him that way.

Kade kept to himself and he preferred his own company rather then joining his peers, he entertained himself. He had grown into himself, branching out into the financial spectrum of art trade and auction after graduating with the highest distinction in art design and studio layout.

The man had ignored the judgment of the people around him, spitting words that tried to deter him from his path into the world of arts. His parents had been the ones to scorn him the most, his father was a dentist; and his mother a midwife. Both busy and lacking in his upbringing, that used to bother him when he was younger, but as he grew older; he realised that things wouldn't change unless he changed them. So that's what he did.

He refused his father's offer of work at his practice, breaking the news that he wouldn't be putting forth his application for a degree in doctoring.

When the world got tough, an adolescent Kade turned to the arts. Spilling out his feelings into felt canvasses and thick sheets of water colour paper.

Danny did that too. Hackthorn saw it as clear as day. He'd seen hundreds of young and talented artists walk to and fro through his office doors; not many more then a handful of them impressing him enough to even remotely catch his attention.

Then Danny found him. This meek little graduate with so little to gain, but so much to give.

She wasn't in it for the money or for the recognition, those eyes of her saw the world in a different light.

A light that hadn't always clearly been so bright.

He could sense something within her, saw the way she held back in her art. Kade was dubious at first, he saw potential, but he wasn't sure if that alone was enough. It was scary, he saw himself in her, from the way she spoke so quietly to the way she fumbled with trembling fingers through her folders full to the brim with sketches and cut outs. That had been him.

Back in the day, Kade Hackthorn had been the meek little nobody just waiting for a chance, so he took pity. He gave her the chance she was looking for, knowing that nobody else would - because they wouldn't understand her the way he did.

"That little book is one of many. Keep it." It was Kade's turn to watch out the corner of his eye.

Seeing how Danny almost pounced on him from the sheer insinuation that she keep his precious yet ratty little book. "Mr.Hackthorn I could-" She began to stutter but she quickly frowned, only now seeing that her boss had stuck his fingers in his ears, only beginning to stride away from where he stood when he knew she was fully looking at him.

Danny followed him quickly, tugging the left sleeve of his half n' half suit jacket and attempting to get his fingers out his ears. The man let her win, an amused smile pulling at his lips. He turned his neck slightly, looking down at her over his nose and seeing her pouting right back up at him. "Call me Kade. I'd like to think we're friends now, I'm not just your boss."

His tone never changed, and neither did the look on his face. Danny found it hard to gage him, with Ben; his eyes always gave him away, no matter how hard he tried to hide his real feelings away. Hackthorn was competent at keeping all his emotions hidden away, his eyes didn't illuminate even at the mention of his book. He had become less monotone as of late, Danny had picked up on that. But he rarely let a smile shine through, he wasn't a cold man though, he didn't keep his feelings under wraps because he didn't trust Danny or those around him. It was almost as if, he didn't know how to show them, like no one had ever taught him how to enjoy life or let him vent of his worries to them. He kept things under wraps because he had no one to unleash them to, he simply lived with the fact that he had no idea how to socially function. Kade was incredibly well versed when it came to his profession, speaking with clients and giving speeches to introduce the audience to his gallery openings. Yet, if you put him in a standard situation outside of his working environment, the man wouldn't cope. It was slightly amusing, this tall lanky slice of a man had seen himself through so many years, and yet he had barely lived through any of them.

Danny bit the end of her tongue. She trusted him, the last two weeks or so had been an utter whirlwind, the girl barely had any time to breath.

Instead of grating on her and urging her to finish up her work, he gave her all the time she needed, and gave her the damn book that actually helped her paint anything at all. Instead of living up-to his reputation of sour opinions and little patience, Kade had made Danny feel at ease. He had helped her break through into the industry, without having her feel like she didn't belong. Some days had been worse then others when she caught him at a bad time or when he was stressed, but nether the less; he always found a way to make things right again.

Hackthorn just hoped she wouldn't prove him wrong, he needed her to continue being her, continue producing work to the best standard she could. Because he believed in her.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea." Danny rubbed her bare arm sheepishly, not wanting to cause a crease in her boss' suit from how franticly she had grabbed at it only a second ago. Kade studied her for a minute, unsure of what to he could say to that.

"Why?" The man was frowning, a look of confusion etched onto his face, Danny was startled to see he was actually questioning her; she half thought he would just shrug her off and walk away. That's what people expected Hackthorn to do, she felt bad about the way people saw him.

Danny's teeth worried her bottom lip as she stared at her feet, she shouldn't have said anything to begin with. "You're my boss, and I want to respect that."

She looked up at him, hoping to see he understood what she meant; but his face was as cold as before - not much emotion showing through the cracks at all.

"You can respect my authority by calling me Kade, I insist." His brows softened just a tad and Danny tried her best to push past this obstacle. It was such a trivial little thing, but given the circumstances of her last employment - she didn't want to fuck this one up. "I'll try to remember." Danny smiled at him, still wondering why he was so insistent on the title change. "Good." Kade's lips turned up ever-so-slightly, his rendition of a smile; or the closest thing to one. Kade cleared his throat - his eyes scanning quickly around his surroundings before they landed back on Danny. "How about I show you around?"

The man was facing her now, his left arm bent at the elbow and ebbed in her direction; an incentive for her to take it. The corner of Danny's eyes creased as she smiled, her fake drop-diamond earrings twisting as she nodded her head. "Thank you - Kade." Danny raised her brow at his name, tipping her chin with a sarcastic glint in her eyes. Hackthorn rolled his eyes with a shy smile, watching as she looped her arm through his and fell into to step with him as he took the lead.

-

As the evening rolled on, both Danny and Kade had loosened up significantly. The crisp champagne had helped, but Danny had never felt so at ease about something like this. Maybe in her distant dreams she saw herself sipping exquisite wine and eating froo-froo canapés with the kings and queens of the art world, never in her life had she ever expected to live that dream. This was just the beginning of it all.

Within the first two hours of the gallery opening both of her pieces were sold, neither of them had even making it to auction before they were snatched up by the type of individuals that had no limit on their credit card or in their check book. Kade hadn't disclosed the exact amount to Danny yet, he had to do the books and work out the commission and tax; not excluding his own percentage too. Either way, he himself had to admit he was surprised. He had no doubt in Danny, but it was so rare for an artist's work to sell if they weren't proven. No one even knew her name. So that fact that her works went so quickly sent a flood of pride seeping through Kade's stone-cold front. For weeks he had doubted himself, wondering if he had made the right decision when it came to the meek little artist that happened upon his office. Of course he was right - he always was.

The heels on Danny's feet were painfully tight and she could feel her toes throbbing, she'd been stood in them for more then just a few hours now; her blood all slow and woozy from the lovely selection of alcohol chosen special for Kade's guests. Some of the finger food was beyond her palate but she took them when they were offered to be polite, a few times she had shoved them in a napkin and binned them just to save Kade's pride. Not that she thought he would give a shit at all about her preference of party food.

Danny blamed the alcohol for most of her wondering thoughts, but what happened with her and Jake still hadn't left her mind. She knew it never would. Throughout the night she had felt eyes on her, some of them completely just passing glances or snidey side-eyes from other women judging her outfit choice. Yet she still had a small nagging feeling about a few choice pairs of eyes in particular, each time she tried to see who it was - no one was there.

It sent a horrid itch down her spine, like someone was playing tricks, messing with her head for the pure enjoyment of it.

Kade had run into a few 'friends' and had been idly chatting away for the best part of an hour, Danny had quickly and politely excused herself early on - something she was now regretting.

She found herself in a more empty part of the realism exhibit, a collection of true life drawings and nude framed sketch works. There were less pieces in this part of the show, more just to break up the subjects and make them more exciting Danny thought. It felt colder back there. Like a draft was dragging from under a door somewhere, the frosted breeze of the autumnal weather outside seeping through the cracks in the old-painted bricks.

They say curiosity killed the cat. Why do you think they called her Kitten?

It was a pull. A heavy one. Gnawing at her to follow it, like an instinct. Danny gave in, her tired feet carrying her towards the back exit. There were so many people inside, no doubt more outside. Probably smoking in the back alley or nattering away from the main event inside. She wasn't afraid.

Danny had learnt a few lessons over the past few months, she wasn't as naive in the sense to walk into danger unprepared anymore. But the feeling of unease was still there, sitting like a pit in her tummy. She only hoped it was the alcohol.

Danny stumbled through the corridor located at the back of the rented space, the floor changed from polished laminate to tacky carpet flooring and her heels stuck to it a little as the back fire exit door came into view. It was cracked open, a street lamp's amber glow peeling through the ajar metal door.

Using her palm, Danny pushed it open; a wave of cruel fresh air biting over her face and across her cheeks as she inhaled deeply. Her breath fanned out as she exhaled, a cloud of water vapour flooding from her throat like cigarette smoke. She watched the breeze carry it, heading up toward the blinking lamp of the street light overhead. She smiled slightly, pleased with how refreshing it felt just to take a breather.

Her eyes broke away from the street lamp, hovering down and suddenly squinting when she saw a shadow toward the end of the alleyway opening.

The figure was leaning up against the brick, wide shoulders slumped forward as their neck craned down out of sight. Danny didn't want to be rude and stare, but that pull was there again. Poking and prodding at her like an annoying tick.

She pulled her arms around herself, her heeled feet moving the other way to walk a short distance away from the door she'd just walked through. The toe of one of her heels caught a glass beer bottle, sending it rolling forwards before it hit the brick wall and crashed loudly. The sound made her heart jump, the alcohol heightening everything in Danny's system.

The figure didn't jump, but from the corner of her eye - Danny saw them move. She whispered out a curse, not daring to look back over her shoulder incase they were glaring her way.

A gravely voice found her ears, they sounded so close, but so far away. "I'll call you back." Was all they said before Danny heard their shoes scuff against the concrete, signalling they'd turned around. Danny's lips were moving before she could catch them, "I'm so sorry for interrupting your call, I didn't mean to make so much noise."

The girl turned around, blowing out her chest to straighten her spine. The figure didn't respond, just neared closer; and closer. It was a man. As tall as he was wide, booted feet scuffing lazily over the concrete as he dragged himself forward. He was still in the depths of the shadowed night, the angle of the street lamp hadn't given him away to the light yet.

"Long time no see Danielle." Her blood stopped.

She knew that voice. "How you been keepin'."

The man came into the light, one hand poised to grab his hood as his body was bathed in the amber glow - he pulled down the hood covering his head and finally showed his face.

Kenjiro Ushar

Danny stepped back, her hands immediately unfolding themselves from her chest incase she needed to run for it. He didn't move to come closer, they were a good 8-feet or so apart; and the man didn't so much as flinch to make up the distance.

"It's you." She hadn't meant to let the words slip out, they just did. Her brow was creased as she studied his face carefully, something was different; slightly off. But she couldn't make it out.

It had been months since she'd seen him, how could she even be so sure of what he looked like?

Danny had seen this man more times in her dreams than in real life. She didn't want to believe he was really here, but he was. All the flesh and muscle and bone of him.

Maybe it was because his hair was longer, or that his eyes looked even more tired then before; either way.

He seemed different. Much more subdued.

Less erratic and sketchy then he had initially come across when they first crossed paths. Danny wasn't afraid, this walking mass of death could end her easily. She wasn't Spencer Reid by any stretch, but the dots were too easy to connect now. Danny was neck deep in this mess, cast out to sea with no way of staying afloat. She knew deep down that Kenjiro Ushar and Kylo Ren were connected, Danny figured it was less platonic and more a kill on sight type of deal.

Kenjiro had been so cold in the way he spoke of Kylo and Vicrul all that time ago, he wasn't some long lost friend looking to reconcile. That much was clear.

Danny didn't know his true motives, and she didn't want to know. But she also didn't want them to find eachother - or for them to know that she knew.

If either of them found out that she had been clued up this whole time, she didn't dare to think what it would mean - and not just for her.

The man bowed his head, twisting it to the side slightly as he studied Danny closely. His sunflower eyes were razor sharp, shredding her apart piece by piece; but she still didn't cower away, that trait of hers was on it's way out. Danny was done not sticking up for herself, even if she was no match for him, she had to try. She tried her best not to shrink away when he took a single step forward, with a stretch of his long lumber legs he was almost a hairs breath away. Inching closer and closer.

"Why so quiet today?" It was comical the way he had to look down at her, she was so small - so frail.

In his eyes anyway. Like a baby bird with delicate bone, so easy to shatter; one clench of his fist and it would all be over.

Danny couldn't tear her eyes away from him.

Drinking him in, he had a braid in his hair, just one.

A thin braid that was made up from some hair at the front of his head, looped back behind his ear so the neatly done little plait was barely visible. It was tied with a little red ribbon, or maybe it was thread - it was very fine either way. Like distinct veins under pale skin. Ushar seemed to be wearing clothes similar to the ones he had before, baggy and black.

Served as inconspicuous Danny guessed.

It was still his eyes though. Before they had been so full of hatred for Kylo, but still full of mischief when it came to teasing Danny.

Now; now they were simply sad. Drained of all their spark, like his life fire had been snuffed out by a cruel and damp fog. "Are you going to kill me?"

Her words were even, too even. She should have been cowering in terror, perhaps running for her life.

Danny stayed there, almost toe to toe with someone she didn't know, but someone she felt she knew so much about. That sorrowful look in his eye, it was like looking at Ben. That sadness deep down under the layers of frustration and scar-healed skin, it shone through so easily. Skipping through the cracks in their masks, so easily seen by those who knew.

Ushar looked insulted at her words, a deep frown dipping his dark brow. "I'm not like them Kitten."

His voice was a purr, taunting again. Teasing.

"Don't call me that." Danny grit her teeth, her eyes keeping him in her sights as he began to walk a circle around her. She didn't move to let her body follow his movements, just her eyes - carefully.

The man smiled, his eyes creasing even more as he did. It was like a deathly smirk, sharp as steel and black as night. He was so tactical in this way.

His behaviour was directly threatening, but he held such presence. He'd been there all night, watching and waiting - patiently biding his time.

Kenjiro didn't exactly know what his game plan was, he didn't need to, he had what he needed.

She was right there in-front, sipping champagne and giggling away with some flouncy art trader, basically hanging off his arm and every word that left his mouth. The perfect ammunition really.

"Ohh yeh, that's what he calls you isn't it." The words were cut throat off his tongue, seeping with such dark intent. "It's what he moans in your ear, hmm? I bet he whispers that name into your hair in the mornings doesn't he, Kitten?" The man continued his steps, his boots scraping harshly across the pavement ground. Danny's throat seized, "Stop it." She whispered, begging her lip not to quiver.

"Maybe that's the name you're saved as in his phone, Vicrul's too, I reckon." His smirk was viscously unsettling, the sharp points of his cuspids reminding Danny of the stray dogs passing through the cold hearted streets of New York at night. Her lungs felt tight and rigid, like they were being squeezed beyond belief. "I said stop it." Tears sprang to her eyes, but Danny didn't let them fall - she couldn't. Not here.

Ushar came closer, a devilish glint shading his eyes.

"Why? The man took a small lock of Danny's hair between his fingers, shifting it over her shoulder as he continued walking his circle around her. His motion sent Danny into a state of fright, she didn't move, she barely let her breath known.

"You know it's all true." He stopped, standing just to the side of her left shoulder, looking down at her from his towering height. Calculating. Judging.

Kenjiro's hand reached out again, but this time - Danny didn't let it find her. With a sharp flick of her wrist, she held a small safety spike to his clavicle.

The trivial little item in her hand was mediocre at best, used for breaking car windows as it's intended purpose. It was so small compared to him, he could easily snap it with just the effort of his fingers; either way - Danny was done taking this shit lying down.

Her hands were shaking, but she didn't think about that, Danny looked Ushar dead in the eye with a twitch etching her lips. She wanted him to know that no matter what happened, she wouldn't be weak.

Those words Ben had said, they held so much weight. He had called her weak - she was about to prove him, and everyone else who thought the same, very wrong.

The man's eyes followed her hand, his own fingers stilling mid air as he raised his other hand in a surrender. A mocking one really, it was accompanied by a thin whistle that whipped through the chilly air around them - echoing off the damp brick walls.

Danny couldn't speak, her lungs were heaving - heavy exhales of air shrugging past her lips as a sweat began to bead at her hairline. She was really fucking doing this, all of it was real.

"Well, fuck me." Kenjiro breathed out, not taking his eyes of Danny's hand, those sunflower hues inched through every detail - from the veins on her wrist to the pads of her fingertips. He wasn't intimidated, not in the slightest. Just like Kylo, he had seen and done worse. Unspeakable horrible things that would keep civilians awake at night if they knew. Like the shit out of fucking horror movies.

That's when an idea came to his mind. One that wasn't well thought or planned, but - in true Ushar fashion. In one quick swoop, one of his hands grabbed Danny's wrist and the other snatched her hip. The man walked himself backwards in such a swift movement, Danny couldn't even resist it. Kenjiro shoved himself against the brick behind him, his spine digging harshly into wall as he kept Danny's wrist gripped tight - using as much force as he could; he pulled her hand forward, lodging the little spike straight through the flesh at the base of his neck. He didn't feel the sting, or the blood now running down his skin and covering both their joined hands. Danny had tried to jerk her hand away, a choked strain catching in her throat as he forced her to inflict pain upon him.

He kept her there. A vice like grip on both her wrist and hip still, the action wasn't dominating or sexual in nature. He didn't see her like that. He didn't see anyone like that. The man had a point to prove.

With her behaviour, Ushar knew she didn't want to be messed with. So he had to make a choice, one that could end one of two ways. Her pain - or his.

Danny tried to twist herself away from him, but he didn't move, she tried her best to dislodge the pathetic little spike now embedded through his skin.

Just as she thought she could break away, he squeezed her, a grip so much like Ben's. Effortless.

It proved to her just how inevitable she was. Weak.

Her skin burned where he had hold of her, she could feel his warmth through the fabric of her dress - could feel his breath dancing across her cheeks from how close the two of them were pressed against one another. They were chest to chest, Kenjiro's chin almost touching the base of his neck from how much he had to strain to look down at her. Those eyes of his, so sharp and so easy to get trapped in. It was so hard to function, Danny's body felt like giving up - but her mind wouldn't let it. Words wouldn't come to her, but actions would. She didn't stop trying to jerk away, no matter how tight his hold became - she only tried to squirm away harder.

"See Danny." Ushar's voice broke through her barrier, an invisible wall that crumbled down just as quick as she build it up. Toppling like Jenga blocks.

Danny looked at him, really looked at him - trying with so much ferocity to see through him, to see what all of this meant and why he was doing this. His motives were so unclear, yet so premeditated. His groundwork so clearly laid out in front of him.

With his distraction in place, Kenjiro kept his eyes locked with hers - grabbing even tighter at her wrist and shoving the blunt spike of her makeshift weapon deeper into his skin, tearing it sideways and ripping a small horizontal gash across his throat.

Blood seeped from the wound, dipping down into the ridges of his skin and gushing down over Danny's fingers and wrist. They both grunted at the action, his effort of force and her surprise twining together to make a strange noise that turned everything else in the dingy back alleyway silent.

A single tear strayed from her waterline, falling over her cheek. Danny didn't feel it, wether it was a tear of anger or hurt - she didn't know or care.

She felt completely numb.

Kenjiro was huffing heavy breaths, his lips parted as he continued to look Danny squarely in the eye. Even if she was looking directly back at him, she wasn't - her mind was elsewhere, swimming away into a dark obis of hatred and anger, she prayed for this to end; for everything to just disappear.

If only for a mere few moments.

"Now you're just like him."

Kenjiro gave a cruel laugh, it was low and hoarse from his throat. The man's wound wasn't deep or imminently threatening his life, it was a semi-decent gash that sliced through his skin just enough to make it look detrimental. There was more blood then he had anticipated, but - no matter; he could see the fear in Danny's eyes. That's what he needed.

And now he fucking had it. Just like he wanted.

Danny held a hiccup in her chest, instead trying to rip her hand away once more. She grit her teeth, her lips bitten back into an ugly snarl. Like a rabid dog.

Where Danny tried to drop the spike altogether, Ushar instead clasped his fingers around hers - forcing them tighter around the sharp little object.

She was running out of ideas, her heart told her not to; but her head told her otherwise.

Using her free hand, she jumped to her tiptoes - wrapping her palm around the back of Kenjiro's neck and forcing him to jut his chin downwards towards her. It was a really fucking stupid idea. Danny lips were on his, from the very first second they were connected - it all felt so wrong.

His lips were dry and chapped, tasting so sour of old cigarette ash. Her plan had worked however, Ushar's grip on her hip tightened- but his vice like crush on her fingers around the spike was gone. For a moment, Danny thought she had failed - like this act of betrayal on Ben was all for nothing.

Then she saw her opening and she took it, Kenjiro wasn't lost in the kiss like some fairy tail moron - he was just stunned for long enough that Danny could act.

With all the force she could muster, she shoved him backwards, his spine connecting with the wall again.

This all felt so wrong, using the back of her hand she wiped at her mouth - the taste of him not leaving yet.

Both their chests were heaving, the thin oxygen not being enough to sate the two of them alike.

The man just stared at her, a heavy swallow dipping his Adam's apple as Danny listened to the cogs turning in his head.

"You have no idea what he's like."

The spike hit the floor with a metallic clank, the sharp noise ricocheting off the brick alleyway and back to Danny's ears. Her lungs felt so tight and so did her throat, the world was spinning and she felt sick. Things had been okay recently, for a stupid moment, she had hoped her life was back to having some rational form of normality. She was wrong.

Kenjiro's eyes sharpened further, his shoulders leaning forward as he adjusted himself against the brick. "I have every idea what he's like." The man stepped towards Danny, his hands bound so tight into fists that his veins were even more prominent.

Anger rose in Danny's bloodstream, she wanted so badly to cry - to scream her way out of this. That wasn't her, her whole life that had never been woven into the inner fibres of her character; she was always the yes girl. Someone told her to jump and she would ask them how high. Wether it was her parents, teachers - lovers. When she lost her parents nothing changed, obedience had been drilled into her from such a young age. Danny couldn't shake that part of her now, it was embedded in her skin. Rooted deep like a pesky thorn or splinter.

The effect of the alcohol Danny had ingested was ineffective at this point, she felt stone cold sober. Like she'd been dowsed with a bucket of ice cold water over her head. She could only watch on in tepid unease as she watched Kenjiro grow nearer, like a serpent - silent and slick. Before she knew it, they were chest to chest again - so close she could taste his anger, smell the conflict that sat on his skin like a musty cologne. The man craned his neck down at her, teeth bared in a hissing threat.

"Do you think he really cares about you?" His words rolled like pungent venom off his tongue. Sour and cruel from his mouth. "Ren is as selfish as they come, you're his toy - just a pawn in his little games."

Ushar walked forwards - forcing Danny to cower backwards till it was her back against the brick.

Her eyes darted to the discarded spike on the floor; it was stained red and dripping with Kenjiro's blood, mixing like an oil spill with the rain on the damp concrete below. Her world was spinning, buried anger clawing it's way up her throat like acidic bile, threatening to spew up and burn her tongue.

She wanted so badly to scream. To cover her ears and curl away in a dark corner somewhere, to wait till all this was over - this was just a nightmare.

A torment. A filthy mirage conjured to taunt her.

"Ben isn't selfish."

The tears were numb to her cheeks, she didn't feel them as they fell, hitting the concrete down below her feet as she kept her head cowered low - eyes bleary and fog ridden. Danny didn't register the words straight away, the error of her mistake taking a few moments to settle in.

Ushar's grip slackened for a fleeting second, only to grip even harder then before. A resolve of sorts washing over him, his next plan of attack clearer then the brightest sun. "What did you say?"

His tone was flat, an audible swallow of his throat following his whispered question. He had heard her, a killers senses rarely failed him. He just needed to hear it again, that name was dead, had been for so many years now. At least he thought that to be that case, something else he was kept in the dark about.

Danny refused to raise her head, even when his fingers curled around her, nails biting skin. Desperate to imbed themselves, grounding almost.

She damned it, the girl had fallen this far. What was a little bit further?

"Ben is more of a man then you will ever be."

She spat, teeth bared and lip bitten back as she dared to jut her chin upward towards him. Still so close they could almost be nose to nose, had the man chosen to close the space - they would share breath.

Kenjiro snatched her jaw in one hand, large fingers digging into her pulse at the top of her throat as it thrummed against his hand. The gesture made Danny gasp for air, her hands almost flying to his wrist on instinct. She kept them down, she didn't want him to see that weakness - the fact she knew he could snap her neck so easily with just one hand, she swallowed it down. He didn't need to hold that kind of power over her, she wouldn't show him that she was scared. Ushar could smell the fear on her, but Danny tried her damn hardest to cover it. 

"Ben Solo is fucking dead." Spittle from his lips landed on her chin, he was leering so close, his lips just grazing across her cheek as she tried to twist her face away from his. Kenjiro's laugh was cruel, it sent a shiver down her spine, and not in a good way.

Then Danny realised...it wasn't Ushar laughing.

She tried jerking her face away from his to find the source, eyes strained and shaky as she tried her best to scan her closed surroundings.

"Last I heard he was very much alive and breathing."

Unfortunately...No one could miss that fiery sweep of auburn hair.

____________________________________

Hello hello,

Just a lil update - starting off by apologising for how long this took...went through a lot of drafts and re writes for this chapter and I'm still not 100% happy with what came out but — what can you do ?

Also very much unedited as per usual so keep that in mind :)

Second thank you so much for 32k <3 it's not a lot compared to other fics but makes my shit little hobby that much more worthy of my time.

Also I just wanted to warn you guys and say that my life has gotten significantly more busy over the past few weeks, busy with work and fur babies and also managing enough time to give my mental health a break. I'm still debating on what the future holds for my place within the fandom, as much as I hate Adam/Kylo TikTok with a passion... I can't bring myself to leave because 9x out of 10 the content isn't too awful - just the select few that choose to take it to *that place*... so I'm just going to vibe here for as long as I want to really. I'll keep you updated.

And something new coming for Christmas/new year... I will go as far to say that it is not part of any fandom and will be my first original piece.

Love you guys lots,

N x


	21. 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙽𝙾 𝙼𝙴𝙳𝙸𝙲𝙸𝙽𝙴

☠︎︎!𝙷𝙴𝙰𝚅𝚈 𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙶𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙿𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝙱𝙴 𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙴𝙵𝚄𝙻!☠︎︎

Danny's eyes widened. Her heart leaping into her throat as she fought to swallow it down.

Stood less then twenty feet away, a man she didn't ever expect to defend her - Armitage Hux.

The man's green eyes were piercing, like sharp cut steel with still jagged edges. So forthcoming yet so entirely dangerous. His other features were neutral, his jaw wasn't tense and his face wasn't pinched in annoyance or anger - he looked; calm. Even while pointing a gun at someone.

Danny didn't dare say anything, Ushar's body still pressed into hers as he held her face between his fingers. She felt his body tense, just for a second.

The girl heard the sound of his teeth grating together, after stealing a glance she saw his jaw was ticking too.

Kenjiro Ushar gave a mocking laugh, a slight sneer twisting his features as he fully looked Armitage up and down. "Didn't you learn from last time? Beat it ginger. This has nothing to do with you." Some of Ushar's onyx black locks had come astray, wisping around his face and twining around his neck in the stale breeze. The man moved his neck to look down at Danny again, but he froze when he heard Hux give a mocking laugh of his own. His head snapped up, his face contorting with anger as he watched Armitage wipe away a feigned tear.

"The only reason I didn't put a bullet between your eyes last time we met was because I needed you alive. Don't expect me to show mercy twice."

The ginger gave a cruel smirk, his body language showing clearly a more dominant side he rarely showed - his chest was puffed and his shoulders were wide, he wasn't backing down from this.

Kenjiro's eyes hardened. "Ben died with the rest of those kids, they weren't as lucky as you. Snoke's little favourite - a rich prick born with a stick up his ass."

The man's lip curled into a disgusted smirk, as if reliving the memories he spoke of - Danny couldn't get her head around how he spoke, talking about himself and Ben as if they had actually died.

It didn't sit well. Snoke had held so much immense power over these boys that they actually believed the lies he fed them, where Ben played into them - Kenjiro had clearly soaked them in, living by the same rules and regulations Snoke had forced them to when he was still alive. Ushar was an outcast - and better yet, a runaway. And he still found solace in a desperate old man's words. A man who had done so many bad things in life - groomed young boys into becoming his ploys, lied and killed his way through his years; not only had he stolen Ben's childhood - he'd stolen his whole life.

If Ben Solo ever left this life behind, he would never truly let go of his trauma. The scars were physically etched into his skin - forever. A reminder of his self worth and what he was 'made for', he would see those scars everyday and remember how he'd gotten them, he'd live through each one as if it had only happened yesterday. The nightmares would never go away, alcohol didn't help anymore - it was merely a matter of time before he wouldn't cope, Ben wouldn't be able to close his eyes without seeing the red. The blood on his hands and staining his skin, he'd always see it.

The lankier ginger gave a sneer of his own, rolling green eyes refocusing firmly on Danny specifically.

"That bastards dead and you're still trying to win him over? I never wanted this. Ben never wanted this. And deep down - I know you don't want this."

Despite the intentions of his words, Hux never let his guard down - not once.

With one sharp movement - Ushar ripped himself away from Danny, in turn he grabbed her by her upper right arm and kicked out her feet from underneath her - sending her to her knees at his feet.

It all happened in a split second, only after she was thrown to the ground was she able to use her free hand in an attempt to claw herself away. Danny spat curse after curse at him, her teeth biting into the flesh of her inner cheek and her nails digging harshly into Ushar's wrist. The girl was silenced when a dull clacking sound rang in her ears, she didn't look to her side at first - she'd already caught sight of Hux. His eyes only widened a fraction, his face staying still - but his stance shifting ever so slightly and his fingers gripped the trigger of his gun tighter.

She didn't want to look - but how couldn't she?

Her eyes moved slowly. Like feet on a landmine, but sure enough, staring pointedly at her - the barrel of Kenjiro Ushar's gun. Danny's blood froze but her pulse was somehow still leaping in her ear drums - echoing and taunting, beating so rapidly it hurt.

Her nails were no doubt drawing blood from his skin now, but she kept them still - simply gripping as a way to remind him she was a living - breathing thing.

"Save me the fucking sob stories. Ben was the worst of us, I hear Ren is no different; and you never fucking belonged anyway, I don't care what you want." Ushar was teetering, his eyes so sharp they could cut. He was on an edge, an edge so steep he would undoubtedly fall. From the crack in his voice to the tremors wracking his shoulders it was as clear as day itself that he was struggling. Torn between holding on and letting go, even in death - Snoke held such a strong grip over the man, one he couldn't shake off even if he tried to. Armitage took a step and Ushar jerked Danny's arm, causing her to yelp.

"Don't fucking move." The raven haired man pressed the mouth of the weapon to Danny's temple, knocking it against her skull as her throat hiccuped a sob that was so desperately frightened.

Hux raised his free hand - but he didn't take the aim of his own weapon away. His mouth twisted.

"That girl is of no importance. Killing her will be a waste of both your time and my resources - make the choice." The gingers eyes flashed, darting from Ushar's to Danny's - it didn't give her any comfort.

Kenjiro minced Hux's words in his mouth - tasting them for himself. His brows knit and his lips pursed with choice. He really was weighing his options here. This notorious killer who killed women, children, animals and everything in between; with little more reason than Amritage's words - was going to spare her.

Danny felt deathly. Like her guts were being wrenched up through her mouth, she felt dizzy and like she was going to vomit. It was so painful.

She cared very little for what Hux thought of her, but his words were not what she wanted hear - mixed with fact she had two guns pointed her way, it gave her little hope. The girl couldn't help the tears.

If she died tonight - what would Ben think?

Would Armitage make it out alive and tell the truth? Both looking unlikely. If the initial blow didn't kill her, she'd be left to bleed out in a dirty back alley lying in the belly of New York City. After Ben was gone, who would be left to remember her? To truly have her intimate memories live on, her friends didn't know her as well as they thought because there was so much more under the surface.

A layer of protection that Ben Solo had sank his teeth into and ripped away, he had been the one to show her what she was worth; he'd let her see that she was worth more then the skin on her bones.

Ben showed her that no matter where she ended up, he wanted to follow her there. He would throw himself in front of a bullet for her - but what help was that if he wasn't here for it.

Her thoughts were spiralling and her head was throbbing with the effort, Danny's cries grew louder, sobs wracking her chest as her body suffered tremors that shook her to her core.

The man's hold on Danny's arm could fracture bone, she could practically feel her humerus giving way.

She grit her teeth through the pain and through the tears, trying to keep her eyes focused forward.

Armitage focussed on her too. His eyes were drawn to her, flickering between her face and Kenjiro's weapon. It was unclear what his motives were, it was unclear why he was even there in the first place.

At the moment - Danny didn't think of any of this. Her brain was preoccupied and practically swelling in her skull, her mind felt like it was being squeezed.

"Don't make me fucking laugh. I know what she is to Ren, and I know what you are to the German."

Ushar's crooked smile widened, much like his eyes. Sporadic and unsteady - unstable. It was terrifying. Probably better that Danny couldn't see him, Hux did well to keep his head level. His jaw might have ticked but he gave Kenjiro little confirmation to his statements. "You may need to check your sources."

Armitage gave a smirk. It was false - but it worked in making the other man sneer.

With a sharp snarl - Kenjiro shoved Danny forward as he let go of her arm, watching as she attempted to clamber away but fisting his fingers into the back of her hair - she yelped when he twisted his whole hand in a 360 motion, yanking her hair so hard she was certain if he let go some would still be wound around his fingers. It made her bite her tongue, her hands flying up behind her head to grapple at his hand in an attempt to relieve some pressure.

"So if I kill her right now it will mean nothing?

Ren wouldn't so much as bat an eyelid even?"

Danny's heart sank to the depths of her stomach, a growing pit of regret and worry settling in.

"Why don't you find out?" Armitage kept his voice far too light for Danny's comforts, her chest was aching so badly and she needed it to stop.

Tears stained her cheeks and her eyes were so bleary it burnt. She was certain this was the end.

Both men held eye contact. Anger was palpable on the air, wether it came from both sides or just one - it was unclear. So much needed to be said, and not just between the two of them. They had grown up together for the most part, their most crucial and vulnerable years shared as they blossomed from lanky teenagers into strapping killing machines.

Armitage had stuck out like a sore thumb but for the later few years of Snoke's life, he had managed to gain Vicrul's favour. It was such a cat and mouse relationship. Always one chasing the other.

Maybe that's why they both enjoyed it so much, with a relationship like that - it meant there were no strings attached and neither one of them had to admit the obvious. Hux had always been open about his preferences, he had no need to be ashamed - years of being called a faggot and a twink had left him numb to the matter of fact nature of having to come out. In the nicest way possible - you only had to look at the man to know where he took it.

Vicrul was a very different story. His sexuality poisoned him, it caused him to hate who he was.

He denied it at first. He wouldn't let himself believe that he was anything but straight. He was a man who liked women and only women - the way God intended. For the best part of two years he didn't go near Armitage, even going as far as to join in and taunt him like the others did. It would have been about last spring when Vicrul finally admitted to himself that he needed to bury his own self hatred away. Back when he was still a teen, he remembers very vividly the way he told Ben. The German boy held his breath as he fisted the trousers covering his thighs, his head bowed so low he couldn't see Ben's face. So that Ben couldn't see the tears.

Vic remembered feeling so embarrassed and ashamed of what he felt, to admit that his past traumas had moulded him into this.

Over the years it had become too much to handle, Ben and Hux were the only ones to know - and they never told a soul. Armitage never even held a grudge against him, it went back to how it was before - that same cat and mouse chase that kept them both somewhat satisfied. As Danny and Ben grew together, Vicrul watched - unknowing that he and Hux were doing the same. Only when the cat moved in did Vic really put the pieces together.

Even when they fought or weren't talking, they came back together in the end. Always.

Ushar clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, gaining both Danny and Hux's attention as he spoke his next words eerily low.

"You know what, no." His smile was wide, so wide it was almost inhuman. It was cruel and sour.

Armitage squared his shoulders a little wider, stealing another glance at Danny as she kept her eyes glued shut while the tears fell over her cheeks.

Kenjiro looked between Danny and Armitage, his words still hanging in the space surrounding them.

The ginger wasn't going to ask, but he was waiting for the other man to finish. Ushar smirked.

With a knocking motion of his hand, he tapped the barrel of his gun against Danny's temple again - proceeding to do it till she whimpered and tried to twist her head away. He yanked her hair harder. Shoving the mouth of his weapon into the flesh of her cheek. "As satisfying as it would be to see Ren crumble..." Ushar's eyes flashed.

"I'd much rather watch how Vicrul - should I say - 'beats one's breast' for you."

Armitage's eyes were blown wide - his body rushing forward with such speed it was a blur.

Danny heard commotion.

Then; everything turned to black.

\

The side of her head felt warm - and everything else was cold. She could feel the concrete under her as she laid there - prostate in the alley way as the damp and dirt seeped through her dress and skin.

The course texture of the stone under her was rough and grated, it hurt to sit up - but she managed.

It was clear that she was injured, without questioning it she bought up a hand and pressed it to the side of her skull, seeing it covered with thick - red liquid when she pulled it back in front of her eyes. It wasn't so much painful - it just throbbed.

From that Danny could gather that it wasn't life threatening. Just superficial.

Her brain finally caught up with her - her dry - bleary eyes trying to focus on her surroundings as they wobbled and spun. Kenjiro was gone.

The sky had turned even darker somehow. She smelt rain on the air and could still hear the commotion from inside the building where Kade and his guests still were. Danny managed to bring herself to a extremely shaky stand, her body leering and swaying as she quickly propped herself against the wall that was closest. It made her stomach lurch for real this time, the girl clutched at her stomach and hurled violently. With little food and excess alcohol in her system - it was a painful ordeal. It was acidic and left her tongue feeling sour and fuzzy. She had to give herself a moment to gain her bearings, her head still painfully vice-like and her stomach now churning.

She stayed with her head bowed and spine hunched, closing her eyes so tightly that the tears had no choice but to run over her cheeks.

Danny spoke to herself in her head. Telling herself to just breath. To count to ten and keep breathing.

Maybe she had actually counted out loud, a strained laugh coming from the end of the alley way had clearing painted it to be amusing. The girl jumped from her skin, her body was on fire and lagging but her fight wasn't dead just yet. Her eyes focussed a little closer, it stung but Danny managed.

That's when she saw him so much clearer, that fiery mop of ginger was damn near impossible to miss.

He was sat on his ass, back leaning against the brick. Just staring ahead at the wall opposite. Laughing. Instead of his usual mocking snicker or spiteful chuckle. He was just laughing. Clearly and genuinely amused that Danny was calming herself down through counting, something she was unaware of, but Ben and the other boys had always done it too.

It bought back more then a few memories for Hux.

Danny was tentative still. His words were seeping back into her mind now, how dismissive of her life he had been. She stepped a little closer, mouth slightly gaped as she tried to breath evenly.

As she grew nearer - Danny could see he had his holds folded neatly over his lower abdomen and slightly to the right. It was a strange position for him to be in, before she blacked out - he held so much power it was suffocating. He stood at the end of that alley with such conviction and dominance, despite not knowing about his and Kenjiro's connections to one another - Hux was clearly superior in her eyes.

Another step closer. Danny squinted her eyes, still hearing the strained laugh blowing through the ginger's lips. When she finally came into the light, her entire body turned as white as a sheet. Her eyes were glued to his hands. His bloody hands. The girl didn't need to think twice or weigh up her options, she was kneeling by his side, her knees just shy at the side of his right thigh. She muttered a curse under her breath, prayed to god too. Again - the man was amused. Just as his laughing died away he fell into a rough and fitful coughing spree, it was clogged and throaty and sounded excruciating.

Danny quickly pressed her hands over his, she didn't dare take them away to see what the real damage was. The blood was pouring through the gaps in his fingers, staining his pretty white shirt a deep and torturous crimson. "We need to call an ambulance, we need to get-" Danny cut herself off. Her eyes met where Hux's were, but his eyes were still staring at the wall. "Can I call you an ambulance?" She asked, her voice so uneven she wondered if he heard her.

The man turned his face towards her, from where she was hunching over him and pushing her entire weight onto his hands - their faces were merely inches apart. So close she could count the wrinkles by his eyes and he could no doubt recount everyone of her freckles. It wasn't intimate - it was torture.

Danny could see the weight on his tongue, something he wanted to say but wouldn't.

With a curt nod of his head, Hux answered. 

The thoughts were racing through Danny's mind at light speed, from under her shaking hands she could feel Armitage's own hands growing slack against his wound as more blood seeped through his hands and onto hers. It left her little choice. She pushed his hands away and applied her own back against his side, using so much force she waited to see his face contort till she stopped applying more and more pressure. If the bullet was still in there. That was it.

She kept her force even enough. Again looking into the man's eyes as he stared blankly at her, his eyes were dull as was his entire face.

"Where's your phone? Do you think you can call an ambulance? Can you talk?" One thing Danny attempted to do was stay calm, if she panicked the so would Hux - well, in theory that is. While her voice was still rushed and shaky - Hux's heart rate was still even, not in the sense that it was entirely slowing - but he just never even started to feel the rush of panicked adrenaline. He hummed. A sound that was welcome to her ears even if he wasn't talking.

With blood soaked hands he ran them down the front of his shirt, attempting to clean them off to some degree before he fumbled through his inner jacket pocket with drowsy fingers. Danny took her eyes off him, refocusing them on his abdomen again. The bleeding was slowing, she could feel the wound thumping under her palms, a feeling she hoped to never feel ever again. The girl splayed out her fingers across his stomach, covering a larger surface area and keeping the pressure there. She hadn't even heard the phone spark with life. Danny jumped when Hux's bloodied fingers cradled in the side of her neck, holding her. His other hand holding the phone haphazardly as he held it closer to her face. An operator was on the other end Danny felt the need to weep with relief.

She spoke through the story hurriedly, leaving out obvious details as the operator finally alerted her that a unit was closing in as they spoke.

The call died away and Hux let his fingers drop the device he was holding, it didn't smash when it hit the concrete - but it did bounce away from the two of them.

Armitage pressed the back of his head against the wall. Sighing to himself. It felt so awkward. In a moment as crucial as this and Danny had no fucking idea what to say - nothing to chide or comfort him.

It was all blank. Half of her wanted to ask him what had happened, but most of it was painfully obvious.

She kept her eyes low out of shame, her drying tears staining her cheeks as she again counted in her head.

"You'll tell him won't you."

Danny looked up. She wished to question him to see if she heard his words right.

"Tell him for me. Please." He whispered.

Seeing Armitage smile so fondly felt false.

Danny knew next to nothing of him, only his clear dislike of her and distaste of Ben. To see him smile and be pressing her fingers into his bullet wound was something she had never even dreamt of, it was something neither of them had predicted.

"I don't understand." Cogs were turning in her head and she willed herself to hear the sirens echo.

She made sure to whisper back to him, by his ear so he could hear.

"Tell Vicrul that I thought of him."

He almost chuckled but he spluttered a cough instead, a painful one.

As much as Danny wanted to hold him still or perhaps console him, she had to keep his blood in his body.

"You can tell Vic what you think when you next see him, you'll be okay." Her voice cracked and there was no hiding it. Now she knew what he meant.

Armitage hummed deep in his throat. His glazed eyes stealing a glance at Danny as she kept her own gaze low to avoid his stare.

"You're trying to convince yourself. Not me."

Danny looked at him - really looked. Finding him still gazing at her, how much he could actually see of her - she didn't know. Wether he knew it or not, Hux had tears in his eyes. Danny did too, they swelled up and burnt her eyelids - running down her cheeks and collecting on her jaw. She tried her best to wipe her face into her shoulder to hide them, but more fell.

Again - Hux bought his fingers to hold the side of her neck, having her look at him as he held her face to match his gaze. She could have easily shaken his hand away, but the gesture was more for his benefit - maybe so he could actually see her.

"I want you to tell Vic that I forgive him. Even if I'm too late. I forgive him." The man finally sobbed his words, they strangled him - making his throat constrict so he was forced to swallow his dread.

Danny couldn't help but lean into his hands, her tears running down over his fingers as she sobbed with him. The girl shook her head, her mind numb.

"You can tell him yourself, please tell him yourself."

Her eyes closed and her chest hiccuped as she spoke. She couldn't see through the tears anymore, everything was a huge blur.

His fingers tightened just an inch. But barely.

"Don't let him think that I left with hate in my heart for him. I could never hate him. Not really."

He was still crying, no longer fighting it, for what his tiring body could manage.

Still the sound of sirens was absent.

"I could never...hate him. Never." Hux's voice was barely a whisper, instead nothing more then a steady breath from his chest. A flittering sound.

His smile faded. His cold fingers falling from the girls neck as his body slumped completely now.

Danny's screams were bone shattering. Ugly cries of his name that were broken and throaty.

She ripped her hands away from his wound, taking his pale cheeks in her hands without caring for the blood that now stained them. She just wanted to find him warm, to still feel life thrumming under her fingers. He was gone. When her body wanted to scream again, it was simply just her mouth gaping as the sound was lost. Such a broken cry that it was silent. Lost along with his life. Danny grappled for his shoulders, bringing him against her chest as she rocked uncontrollably - no pain inside her could compare to this. This man she didn't know, this man who she thought she didn't care for. He now meant so much. Danny's nails broke from how hard she clutched at his body, part of her hoping he would wince or stir from the pain. He didn't. He was gone.

He had died in her arms. Yet she didn't let her mind believe it. Danny's eyes were darting everywhere, up the walls - out into the street from the alleyway.

No one came. Not to her cries. Not to her calls.

She was alone. Her life was spared but at what cost.

Danny wrapped one arm around the back of hisshoulders while the other cradled the back of his head, bringing his face to her clavicle as she rocked back and forth. Continuing to scream every name she knew under the sun. She called for Vicrul. Even for Poe. But it was Ben she needed.

It felt like her vocal cords were being ripped from her throat, suddenly the physical pain matching the mental pain she was being burnt with.

She was probably pulling out his hair, but that didn't matter. She held him so fucking tightly. As if his body would evaporate away from her.

Danny didn't want to look at his face. Selfishly, she couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes.

They would still be open. But not scowling or piercing anymore, that vibrant forest green was gone. Left with a dull - lifeless grey.

Her body was numb. As were her senses.

Danny couldn't see, but somehow - she could hear.

It didn't register. When someone was suddenly there. Pulling at her. Danny reacted, hissing something she didn't remember - clutching at Armitage even harder then she had before.

Bruising him as she remembered his last words.

The person didn't stop. They clutched for her, their touch burning. She cried out again, not wanting to let him go. Then finally - his voice rang in her ears.

Her eyes shot open, still tear-blurred and red.

It was Ben. His own eyes reflecting hers, she couldn't focus on him, the pull to him was so strong but she still didn't want to let go of Armitage.

"I-I tried to help." She rasped. "I told him he'd be okay!" Her cries were painful to hear.

Ben shushed her. His throat too tight to speak words. He cooed to her with such gentleness.

His hand soft too. He didn't force her to let go right away, he coaxed her. More commotion began to flood the space around her. She heard the door open at the other end of the alley, shocked gasps following. She finally heard the wurr of sirens and the heavy footfall of EMT duty boots hitting the ground. Yet a sound she would never forget

\- the thud of his knees hitting the floor.

A sound she hadn't acknowledged at first.

Then Vic's hand found her lower arm. Like Ben, he didn't force her grip away. He didn't put her wrist in a bone breaking hold that caused her to let go.

He held her arm with such care. So gentle.

Danny forced her eyes to focus. Seeing the raw pain in his face was something she wished to never see on him again. Vicrul's teeth were grit so tight, his eyes as hard as the steel and nails he was carved from.

When he met her eyes, she immediately relinquished her hold on Armitage. Vic was the only person she allowed to touch him. The way in which Vicrul cradled Armitage's battered and bloodied body into his own, it was a symbol of something true. After the years of denying his true feelings, Vicrul was too late.

The man he loved was gone. The German gripped Hux so tightly, sobbing into the blood stained shirt wrapping his chest. Danny didn't know what to do, sitting on that wet - blood stained concrete. Surrounded by ambulances and covered in blood. With Ben at her back with his arms around her.

His cheek pressed to her temple as he held her so tightly - secretly wishing she'd look away.

How could she? Danny couldn't bring herself to tear her eyes away from Vicrul as he grieved his lover. Sobbing his woes into his cold skin as he muttered his name over and over.

Hux never answered back. And he never would again.

\

They didn't eat for days. They didn't sleep either.

Couldn't bring themselves to even try.

When Danny closed her eyes, she could still see him laying there. He had been so uncharacteristically handsome and neatly, and even in his death - he was the same.

A bullet had ended Armitage; but he died in her name. Instead of allowing it to be her strewn across that damp stone back alley floor, he threw himself into the fire - he danced with the devil.

To keep her alive. To keep her where she was needed.

Ben knew better than to push anything. For a man that existed for death - this was torturous.

Watching her become just a shell in such a short space of time, he would never invalidate her feelings - not ever. But part of him didn't understand it, how good she was. Armitage had never shown much care or compassion when it came to Danny, he insisted she be set free - to send her back to the club where they found her. Maybe he knew something like this would happen; eventually she'd get caught in the cross fire.

In fact - He had predicted that very thing, Ben being Ben; he dismissed that notion, because he was fully prepared to put his own life on the line if he needed to. He never anticipated that he wouldn't be there to protect her at all. Ben couldn't fathom Kitten's grief, she was too caring for her own good. Yes he had died under her watch, but in Ben's eyes - she didn't need to harbour the guilt for Hux's life. He had put himself in the middle of that danger, facing Ushar was never not going to happen. Ben and Vic had clearly just missed the mark, they were too caught up with locating Kenjiro in Germany that they had no idea he was even still in the city.

Ben could never - ever repay what Armitage had done. He had saved Danny. For that - Ben prayed.

Ben Solo fucking prayed. That same night of Hux's death, this big walking mass of sorrow prayed to who ever was up there - to look after his friend.

His friend.

Ben didn't believe in god. How could he?

He only wished that there was a higher power, a higher power that would look after his friend -

and heal his brother too.

By the grace of the gods or whoever was up there, Ben had no right to ask for anything.

Not now. Not ever. But as he sat there on the floor, propped on his knees - he looked to his left, over on the bed.

Danny and Vicrul were both out of it.

An hour earlier she had given Ben permission to slip her something, anything that would take away the pain. 'Just for tonight' she pleaded.

The man reluctantly gave in, he couldn't sit by and watch her lay awake - remembering.

He knew what that was like, and he wished it on no one, not even his worst enemy. He gave her something light, tricked her into having to drink one of his calorie packed liquid shakes too.

Within a quarter of an hour - She was gone.

The man had already been forced to give Vicrul something, the German was a hazard to himself more then anyone else. Ben had barely gotten him through the door in one piece, there wasn't a chance on Earth that Vicrul could be left alone - especially tonight. The German had actually welcomed the pills that Ben forced down his throat with a slug of water. Danny hadn't been there to watch it all happen, so she didn't even know what he'd been given - but whatever it had been, it was strong.

Kept the German out like a broken light, Ben had carried him over his shoulder to the guest bed, stripped him of his damp-bloodied clothes and tucked him in so tight. Ben hadn't been able to leave straight away, it took him a minute to grasp himself. Sitting there - next to his best friend. His brother.

Vicrul's face was flushed, still wet cheeks that were rosy and bitten by the cold. Although his sorrow had slightly evened out in his sleep, it was still there,

Ben could taste it on the air around them, it was cold and he didn't like it one bit.

When Kitten came home - she went straight to Vic.

Didn't utter as much a word before she was slowly climbing the steps, rounding each corner of the hallways before she came to a stop at the guest room door. Part of her wanted to see him, needed to; but what if he blamed her? What if he wished it were her instead of his soul mate? What would she do then?

Then Ben was there. An arm around her shoulder as he stood beside her; he didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. His fingers wrapped around the door handle, twisting it so so slowly. When the door finally opened - Vic wasn't in the bed.

But panic didn't set it. The door creaked open all the way and they saw him - stood by the wide open windows, watching the rain beat down on the earth.

Vicrul's back was to them. Wide - muscled shoulders slack and his head bowed low as his palms rested on the window ledge. He'd heard the door crack open, his heightened senses were always running - but he made no effort to turn to see the two of them.

Before Ben could grab her arm, Danny was already striding across the room. Her short legs carrying her as far and as quick as they could. Her sobs were silent, she didn't let her lungs hiccup this time because they were still so sore. Vic didn't flinch when Danny's cheek connected with the skin between his shoulder blades, he could feel her wet skin, could feel the cold still in her cheeks. The girl felt his muscles tighten just slightly, and only for a split second. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was, how she wished it had been her, how much she wished she could have done something sooner.

She was already blaming herself before Vicrul got the chance to, guilt had eaten her up and spat her out. Churned her right to the bone.

Danny felt rotten. It felt so wrong to be standing there, still breathing. It should have been her.

The words didn't leave her throat, but they were spoken into the silence, into Vic's heart. She didn't have to say them, he knew what death left behind. Until now, he'd just never had to reap the repercussions of the blackened mess left in loss' wake.

Ben left them be. Partly because he knew they needed it, but more so that he could stand and watch it. Selfishly he couldn't bring himself to watch his most cherished possessions shatter and break in front of him. He didn't want to see how they were shaped by Armitage's death, Ben didn't want to sit back and simply watch how they hollowed themselves out.

At some point, Ben resurfaced back upstairs.

Having made something light for Danny to eat if she was up to it, he'd already tried and failed to feed Vic when he forced him something to calm him down.

He made his way to to guest room but came to a stop on his way there, his own room, seeing both Danny and Vicrul curled against the headboard.

The German's eyes were blank, from grief or the drugs, it wasn't exactly clear. He himself wasn't making an effort to touch Danny, it was her that had his left hand held between both of hers. She had it cradled to her chest, rubbing her palms along the length of his fingers to maybe warm them up.

Something struck Ben. It wasn't jealousy or anger.

It was something truly heartbreaking, he felt it stab right in his chest. His best friend, the man that could seduce anything with a pulse, a man that could splinter bone and smash skulls with his bare hands. Reduced to nothing. Another shell. Just a shadow of his previous self, with everything still being so raw - it made sense. But Ben wasn't sure he'd ever recover.

The girl had spotted Ben's shadow against the doorframe, calling him in so quietly it was barely there. He didn't verbalise his offer of food, just gestured the plate of plain - buttered toast over to her. She smiled - but declined; and Ben couldn't say he was surprised. He knew how uneasy his stomach used to get in the early days of his work, he found the smell worse but still- it never got easier.

The raven haired man left the plate on the side table, running his fingers lightly across Danny's shoulder before he moved to turn around.

She grabbed for his hand, her skin so soft and warm against his. It was clear at some point she'd managed to shower - or at least clean the blood away.

That's when Kitten asked for the pills, something - anything that would numb her anguish.

Ben could never deny her.

With her sleeping, he could now grieve. He and Armitage hadn't always seen eye to eye - but what friends did? When it came down to it, they knew they would give up their lives for eachother - like the oath they took all those years ago. An oath Kenjiro Ushar had now broken. An oath that both Ben and Vicrul would no doubt break now too.

Ben felt better to let his emotions free while Danny was sleeping. She was fragile at that time, she didn't need that added weight of Ben's sadness added to that. She as far too caring. She would neglect her own grief to try and rid him of his. That was her.

With her finally at peace after the longest night of her life, Ben could channel everything he felt.

Before - he would have torn his way through the house, smashed doors, broken windows - practically destroyed anything in his sights. That's how he was wired, to destroy and maim. But not now.

Ben now remembered instead. He chose to plunge deep into his memories, back to a young adolescent ginger that was too long and lanky to be real.

Big white teeth that centred his face and hundreds of freckles spattering his cheeks. As said before -

Uncharacteristically handsome.

He was far taller then the majority of the lads under Snoke's charge, all but one. Ben had always been a tall - lanky kid too, but as he aged, he filled out drastically. His protein consumption and insistent training secured that. Hux was shorter by only a hair. Very nearly matching a then almost-adult Kylo.

Ben remembers how serious Armitage had always been, right from the get-go, he wouldn't rough house or engage with anything that would scuff the knees of his trousers. Hence the homophobic nicknames.

He was so prissy, but so hilariously sharp tongued too. Even when Vic had chimed in with the name calling, Ben simply stood and watched it unfold - smiling to himself as he listened to the ginger gift out his own comedy worthy one liners that irked the rest of the boys to the point they went for him.

Ben curled his knees to his chest - still keeping an eye on a sleeping Danny and Vic, watching the gentle rise and fall of the duvet snuggled all the way up to her chin and his chest. When he thought about it - he and Hux had more in common then they knew. Now wasn't the time to regret what hadn't been said - he'd drive himself insane with that thought. Perhaps he just wished that Armitage knew he wasn't hated, not by him. Ben didn't hate him. He never had.

Even in his darkest days, Ben Solo couldn't safely say that he had the capacity to hate those he had grown up with. His stone cold exterior was simply just that - an exterior. Something that ensured people stayed away and didn't ask him how he felt. When Vic fucked up, Ben still couldn't stay mad - the same went for Armitage. They were all stressed and in the midsts of a upheaval of the First Order - times were tough and they only got tougher. Ben's unauthorised kill of that junkie, his trip to Russia, Vicrul's battle with his self identity and Armitage's daily duties to keep the authorities none the wiser and the other boys across the continent in line - it was all a jumbled cluster fuck of emotions and stress.

Yet - they managed.

Ben was good at pretending. He always had been.

But this - it was so fucking hard. To have to sit and pretend that he wasn't breaking inside, to keep a straight face and attempt to comfort not only his best friend but his lover too. Ben didn't know how long it would take for them to heal, but he knew that something needed to be done to avenge Armitage.

The oath they all took as damn near children had been untouched for years, not so much as a tear in the thread of their shared promise. At one point, Ben had been sure he'd be the first to break it - he was so wrong. Kenjiro Ushar had been the one to rip the brothers apart, to sever the bond they shared.

After years of building trust - it was all gone.

Danny had stirred but didn't wake, she wouldn't wake for hours yet. Her noises pulled something in Ben's chest, the way she whimpered in her sleep, cries trapped in the depths of her throat. He wanted to hold her - keep her bound so tightly to him.

Ben was hiding from the obvious. His thoughts wouldn't linger too long, but he certainly had weighed up the possibilities of Danny not being laid in that bed tonight. It could have indeed been her body spending the night in that morgue - empty and alone. It made his eyes burn, just the sheer thought of it. He didn't want to think about what action he would have taken had he found her in that alley instead.

The hours bled by, but Ben didn't sleep. He kept watch, just incase either of them did happen to wake. He made sure he'd be there for them, when they needed him.

Just a few hours ago now, Danny had called him, a call he didn't know he needed. A call that he had waited so impatiently for, sat staring at the screen till it lit up.

\

The police station had been eerily quiet.

New York was a filthy place, the nightlife was haunting and what really happened on the cusp of rich socialites and criminal minds would never be published.

For Danny to be sat in that holding cell, alone and cold. It was strange. There was no white noise that allowed her to disassociate, no screaming junkies or hysterical shoplifters. It was completely dead.

The detective had finally allowed her to wash her hands, after hours of being forced to sit in that cell while she waited to be questioned; still smelling of damp stone and dried blood. It had been under her nails. In her hair. Staining the side of her neck and all the way up her forearms. She looked like she'd been massacred. The smell of metal on metal.

Danny never acknowledged her own injury.

Even back at the crime scene when an EMT tried to help her, she denied them. She couldn't feel it.

Not really.

Her entire being was completely numb. Sterile.

She couldn't feel a fucking thing. The bleeding from the blunt force wound on her head had stopped hours ago, now it was just a congealing-matted ball of blood and hair against her skull.

Danny had never been thought of as a suspect.

From the inconsolable state she was in the police never suspected that she held a motive or vendetta against their victim in question.

They wanted her to give a statement. To give them anything that would lead them to Armitage's killer.

The girl was in two minds. She wanted Ushar to rot in hell for what he had done. He didn't deserve death. He needed to live out his days in a cell to be reminded day in and day out of what he was.

An animal. A killer. A tyrant. A scared little boy.

But on the other hand. Danny already knew that Kenjiro's days were numbered, neither Vicrul nor Ben would allow him to continue to walk this earth after what he had done tonight.

She didn't know it - but over the few hours she was kept at the station, Danny had completely severed the top layer of skin on her left arm. She'd scratched and picked at it till it bled. But she didn't stop.

She was in so much pain. Everywhere. It hurt to blink. It hurt to breath. It hurt because she could still hear him speak. Pleading with her. So softly.

Danny's tears never dried, the skin of her cheeks were sticky and her nose was red - raw by the end of her questioning.

Much to her better judgment. She didn't give them anything. It felt wrong lying to the law, but at the same time, she had Ben and Vicrul to protect.

Armitage wasn't on the radar for any of his crimes or links, he wasn't a known target for any other organisations either. To the police - he was a regular business investor with a stable income and quiet life. It was a harrowing and shocking murder that stumped the authorities. With no cctv or evidence other then the bullet from Hux's abdomen and Danny as a witness - they were at a loss.

With the one phone call she was allowed Danny called Ben, her brain wanted her to call Poe or Finn, she knew it was a risk just having Ben be near the police station at all. But Danny's heart wanted Ben. She needed him. The man had been reluctant to let the police even take her, between consoling Vic and protecting his lover - it was tough. Danny was strong and the larger part of Ben knew it, he knew she'd be okay. His protectiveness would have to be put aside, he was clued up enough to know they weren't arresting her.

Vic was an entirely different story. The man was broken, his heart and soul severed. Ben had to drag him away by force, the German spat at anyone who tried to touch Armitage; going as far as to threaten his own life if anyone came near either of them.

The ambulance staff were there to help, Ben knew this, but Vicrul refused. It was clear Hux was gone, but they needed to get his body to the morgue to provide a certificate of death.

It took all of Ben's strength to take Vicrul home, he came out of it with a cut brow bone and a bruised lip from how violently Vicrul had thrashed himself around in Ben's hold. But that pain didn't register, unlike the pain in his chest. The organ sitting under his ribs felt so heavy and sore, it was something he didn't think he'd ever felt. Ben couldn't imagine what this was doing to his best friend.

Armitage and Ben had been far too different to ever connect. In their youth, Ben may have stuck out his own neck to save any of his brothers - not Hux.

The ginger had come in far too late and far too pieced together, the other boys were beyond repair - and Armitage was so proper and well rounded.

For years Ben never understood why Snoke bought him to New York, he would lay awake and think it over; wondering why neither him or his brothers were enough to satisfy their caretaker.

Him and the other boys had realised quickly he wasn't there for the same reason they were, built far too lanky and skinny for the training the rest of them endured. Armitage was there to eventually take on Snoke's role, he had to be street smart but still hold authority. His bloodline provided that, with his private education and sharp tongue he would have been perfectly suited to take on a leadership role and bring about the next generation for the First Order to rear. After Snoke died, all but one had looked to Armitage - back then; they planned to honour their masters wish for Hux to overtake. Kylo had knocked that idea out of the question, to which Hux agreed - in the one true moment Kylo could remember them consoling one another, Armitage confessed that he didn't want to continue Snoke's legacy.

Through his own digging he had found that Snoke killed his parents for the sole purpose to take him thereafter, he resented the man - hated him.

He told Kylo that he wanted to stop the integration of children into the programme; Kylo agreed.

After that day - Kylo felt the light creeping back in, it have never truly disappeared, the years previous years had even kept his dog tag with his old name on it. That alone proved where his heart was.

The more Kylo felt Ben still living inside of him, the more he turned to his killing to even out the darkness. All his life he had been told how worthless he was, how disposable - he well and truly believed those words.

Until she came along.

Danny had been the one to pull Ben from the darkness. She'd clawed her way into Kylo's chest and let the light in, only enlarging the light that already resided inside of him.

She had been the one to show him his worth.

The sex and the money wasn't the truth. Ben didn't know how to completely show his emotions yet, he didn't know that Danny would be happier to curl into his chest and watch a shitty horror flick then be shown off at some fancy restaurant somewhere.

He didn't comprehend that she was there for him - and just for him. He could have had a low class job with little to no money to his name, and Danny would still love him just the same.

After being so close to losing her, Ben swore to himself that she wouldn't be put in that position again.

It was time to stop this.

____________________________________

I don't really have much to say after this chapter...- other then I hope you cried as much reading this as I did writing this.

I'm sorry for this much heaviness in this chapter but it just felt like the right time, after facing some tough time myself over the last few weeks it had completely mirrored into my writing so apologies for that.

And also sorry this chapter is a little shorter then my usual - it was just pretty heavy for me and I didn't really feel like it was appropriate to skip forward and gave some other softer plot afterwards so I just thought I'd end it there (;'༎ຶٹ༎ຶ')

Also I haven't edited this so please laugh at my mistakes pls ❤︎

Happy new year guys to those of you sticking with me and i hope 2021 brings you great things ❤︎

I also hope all my readers in America are doing okay rn, I can't even begin to imagine or pretend to understand what is going on for you guys right now but my heart is with you all...except Trumpies...

please choke ( ˘ ³˘)♥︎

All the love for my BLM and LGBTQ+ babies

(⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃


	22. 𝙲𝚄𝙼𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙷𝙾𝙼𝙴 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙲𝙷𝚁𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙼𝙰𝚂 (𝙲𝙷𝚁𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙼𝙰𝚂 𝚂𝙿𝙴𝙲𝙸𝙰𝙻)

____

"If you swallow that there will be consequences."

Ben's eyes were narrowed - playfully. A smirk tugging at his already ghosted smile, Danny watched his throat ripple and his Adam's apple dip.

He swallowed it.

Danny didn't know wether she wanted to kiss him or jab him with the knife held carefully between her fingers. Apparently making apple pie was more difficult then it looked, and having a 6'4 toddler pinching the already peeled-and-chopped apple slices didn't help make it any easier.

She hadn't even noticed him at first. He was annoyed she was spending so many hours in the kitchen at a time, standing peeling apples and stirring cookie dough mix until her feet ached.

Ben tried his best to pry her away but Danny stood fast, however, her excuses didn't sate him for long.

'Just five more minutes' had turned into two more hours, Ben was growing hungry - and not for the sweet treats she was baking.

He had something else sweet on his mind.

While she prepped baking trays and weighed out her ingredients for the pie crusts, Ben kept swooping in and out of the kitchen - snatching peeled apple slices by the hand full while Danny's back was turned.

Ben was pleasantly surprised that they were covered with cinnamon and lemon juice upon shoving them into his face, less boring - he thought as he chewed.

He sat in the living room that joined onto the kitchen, mindlessly flicking through channel after channel as he waited for her to notice. He listened for the hissed curse blowing past her lips, she knew there wasn't a ghost in the house, it was blatantly fucking obvious who was eating the fruit.

Unfortunately for Ben - Danny was just as boar headed and stubborn as he was, she was pissed off but she simply peeled and chopped more apples. Reminding herself to keep a closer eye on the bowl while she made a start on prepping the pie tin.

She had just narrowly missed grabbing his wrist as his fingers dipped back into the bowl again, the slice of apple was between his teeth before Danny could even reach up and snatch it back. He was doing it on purpose, hoping she got annoyed enough just to give up for the evening. How wrong he was.

Ben Solo looked Danny dead in the eye as he swallowed that apple slice. Didn't even hesitate.

At some point Danny had gripped the knife in her fingers, not to threaten Ben - obviously. She didn't really know why she did, probably hoping it got her point across of cutting apples instead of him.

Danny just made it worse. His eyes fell to the knife, the flat blade catching the light as her hand shook.

A noise rumbled in his throat, an approving noise.

Ben was close to kicking that innocence kink he had right out the window, over the months - Danny grew bolder and bolder. Don't get him wrong, he was glad for it, gone was the shy meekness she used to hide behind - it was like a veil.

These days, she was the one hungry for him.

He didn't deny her either, he liked that she was just as desperate for him as he was for her.

A mutual obsession for each other's mind and body.

"Oops." His eyes narrowed. "My bad." The words were growled out of his throat. A low rumble of warning that he hoped to fucking god Danny would ignore.

Danny met his eye, a twist in her lip as her blood boiled through her veins. She didn't even want to count how many apples she'd actually gotten through - less then half of them still sitting in her bowl atop the kitchen counter. Ben was wrong if he thought he was winning this one.

"How do they taste?" Danny whispered to him, letting the knife lay against the counter as she reached out to touch him, or rather - not touch him.

Just as the tips of her fingers dipped up and under his shirt she tore them away, his skin was hot under her fingers for the brief few seconds she indulged him. Ben growled, immediately annoyed that her touch had faltered. "Come here and find out."

Danny gasped as he reeled her in, one snatch of his hand and he had her waistband tight in his iron grip - so tight the fabric would strain even after he'd let go. The man didn't give her any chance to clamber away, Ben was famished and his Kitten was looking more then delicious. He trapped her in the filthiest toe curling kiss she had ever been gifted, his teeth clashed against hers and his tongue was bruising.

She squealed when his hand wandered, grabbing roughly at her ass so she was forced to press even closer to him - his body melding with hers as he pushed her back to rest against the countertop.

Danny was gasping into his mouth, her lungs robbed dry of air when he hurled her up so she was sat atop the kitchen top. Ben pushed her legs apart with his hips, his body slotting into place as his teeth and tongue wondered - bruising her jaw and throat.

The house was warm - probably too warm. The fire was roaring away in the living room and the heated marble floor felt toasty beneath Kitten's bobble-socked feet as she stood cooking all day.

With Ben pressed to her like this, it felt like she was dancing with a flame itself - boiling hot and scorching her skin as he pressed deeper into her body. Danny indulged herself in him, his jaw felt rough with stubble under her fingertips and his lips tasted like hot chocolate and cinnamon. She gasped into his mouth, only gifting him more room to have his way, his mouth traced every inch of hers.

He never got enough of kissing her. Never ever.

Danny could practically feel the sweat on her forehead, tiny wisps of baby hairs fraying and sticking to her skin around the crown of her head.

She could see it on Ben's face too, perspiration from his excitement and heated skin. Their breathing grew heavier but neither of them wanted to give it up, Danny let the taste of the sweet apple slices slide from Ben's tongue to hers, sweet - sweet - sweet.

Danny didn't know when they had left the kitchen, the growl that bore deep from Ben's chest was just white noise - her own blood pulsing was too loud echoing around her ear drums. The two of them fumbled up the stairs, clothes flying and teeth clacking as they struggled to undress while still latched to one another. Both Ben and Danny were merely lazing around that day, meaning less clothes to rip from each other's bodies. Danny was beginning to think she knew Ben's body better then she knew her own, and vice versa with him.

She could trace every mole and scar of his from memory, every fold of skin and every birth mark on him. She could find them all and trace her fingers along them, Ben could do the same with her too - each stretch mark she owned and each freckle she wore. It was all just a second nature to him now.

Ben's bed was growing more familiar too, each spring and each edge was more homely them hers back at her apartment ever had been.

She slept better, the sex was better - inevitably.

Ben pressed her down, his hips bracketing her to the bed as he traced his lips from the round of her stomach to the valley between her breasts, climbing the column of her throat before he claimed her mouth once again. Danny kept her hands on him, hooking her arms under his to settle her nails into the skin of his back and shoulders or holding his face in her hands. Each gesture was one that they both knew had more meaning, from beneath him she was powerless - but that contact held the mutual understanding that no matter what; she was in control. Not in the dominating sense - but in that if she ever wanted Ben to stop, he would.

She could feel how slick his skin felt beneath her fingers, the sweat on his back running down the cast blocks of muscle that mapped the man together.

Hades in mortal form - sent to reap his corpses.

He was so big in every sense, the dark menace dripping from him and falling in waves as his teeth worried Danny's skin. They were both naked as the day they were born, neither of them finding any sense of shyness or embarrassment like before.

Every scar and every stretch mark didn't mean anything - they were both perfect in each other's eyes.

Danny could feel him, how hard he was, his cock was brushing her inner thigh as he continued to rutt against her, his tongue and teeth now carving runes into the soft skin behind her ear. She whimpered, and it only drove him to growl - his teeth catching her skin a little too harshly when he finally brushed the head of his cock against her cunt.

Then he stopped. His eyes blowing wide as his neck snapped in a different direction, towards his on-suite. It made Danny freeze too, Ben was gone like a bolt of lightening, his body dashing towards the door so quickly Danny almost missed him go. She held her breath, rolling onto her stomach as she kept her eyes trained to the door he'd just disappeared through. "Shit." She heard his breath, like the words were hissed through clenched teeth. Just as she was about to call to him, he stepped back through the door. A freshly burned candle held in his hand.

Ben's eyes sliced straight through her and she wanted to evaporate, the situation wouldn't have been half bad, only if he hadn't told her more then a hundred times that she need not burn his house down. Danny wanted to recoil, sheepish smiles weren't going to cut it this time, even his nakedness didn't distract her from the piercing gaze he held on her. She moved to mouth to speak once more, but he cut her off. "Do you remember what I told you would happen if you left a candle burning alone again?"

There was no playfulness in his tone. It was sharp like lead, cutthroat. Danny managed to nod meekly, her body betraying her as she wished it to do more.

His irises flashed. "What exactly did I tell you?"

He seethed, his voice lowering but his anger only

just beginning to simmer over. Danny licked her lips, her own eyes widening as something ached between her legs. "You told me that you'd make sure I never made that mistake again." She gulped, watching Ben as he stalked closer - naked and all, the glass candle held so tight in his grip he could shatter it.

"That's right." He smirked, sharp-pearly teeth catching the dull light as he advanced forward.

Danny moved to make room for him on the bed but Ben was quicker then her, his free hand snatched her ankle and he bought her closer to him, teetering on the edge of the mattress. "Now." He began, his smile turning red as his eyes speared her skin.

"I want you on your back, head off the edge."

There was no kindness in his tone, Danny tried to find anything but the palpable lust hanging in the air - but there was nothing. Ben's anger only fuelled his hunger, and he was starving.

It took her a moment to take his words seriously, her mind registered them but her body didn't - when his lips curled into a snarl she took that as a warning, quickly shimmying herself around in his requested position. Her chest and cheeks were painted red, warmth flooding her skin from excitement and nerves. From her new line of sight, Ben was upside down - his manliness right in her eye line, she tried not to let it distract her; she searched his eyes again but was met with stone. Danny was so focussed on Ben's eyes that she didn't register the stinging of her lower abdomen, it felt like a coiling burn - and she assumed it was just her aching for him.

How fucking wrong she was. The pain grew to an uncomfortable sear before her body jumped in response, skin red hot and burning as her eyes shot down. Wax was beginning to harden against the flesh of her tummy, flaking and cracking as she moved to sit up and get a better look.

Then man cupped her neck from behind, slamming her roughly back into the bed so she was laid down again - he loomed over her, watching with a wicked smile as Danny winced and squirmed when he poured more melted wax across her body; this time across her thighs, some spilling onto the sheets beneath her too. The girl bit her lip, willing herself not to yelp or squeal as he taunted her. Ben could be spiteful when he wanted to be, but his excuse was fair - he did tell her time and time again to be careful. Did she listen? Of course not.

"Don't be quiet Kitten, there isn't much point."

His chuckle was pitch black like oily tar, sickly and bad - But fuck did it make her burn even hotter.

The man moved his free hand to work the wax into her skin, each line he poured he pressed his fingers into - their bodies joining as the wax coagulated and hardened. Cracking and breaking as he moved his hands and poured even more else were. Danny clenched her thighs, her back arching off the bed as he spilled some over the cleft of her pussy - his fingers following to tease her mound. He'd never let the substance inside of her, he wasn't that dense, but for Danny - the risk and unknowing was there.

Leaving her teetering on the edge of pleasure just that little bit longer. The candle was nearly done, much to Ben's disappointment. He had made a mess. Chunks and flakes of wax littering the bedsheets and sticking haphazardly to Kitten's sweat-clammy skin as her little chest heaved and thighs quivered. Her whole body was shaking, aching and searing for more of his touch - just anything would do.

Her eyes were screwed tightly shut, not knowing where he was headed next was always better.

Anticipation was a great thing. Good things cum to those who wait and whatever else. Danny all but leapt from her skin when he pinched her clit, something hard and slick prodding at her lips as he did. "Open wide." He growled. The man cast a literal shadow down over her, one big palm flat to the mattress for support as his other arm stretched out and down towards her cunt to tease and tantalise.

Danny's eyes were wide open now, like a deer in headlights, despite both their new found sexual appetites - this was new. She was afraid to disappoint, Ben had some years on her, the sexual experience came with the territory.

It sept he could sense her hesitation in the air, and unfortunately, he always knew what to say.

"I'll break your jaw if I have to Kitten. Don't keep me waiting."

Or not. The was gentle Ben...and then Kylo shone through. It was rare. But he never went away.

It was never too dangerous. Mostly empty threats to keep Danny obediently on her toes when he felt the need.

Tentatively, Danny craned her neck back, stretching her throat and opening her mouth. It was barely seconds since she parted her lips that he shoved his cock deep to the back of her mouth, spearing at her throat and gagging her. She fought back the tears, her reflexes forcing a strangled choke from her chest. It was only made more difficult when his fingers dipped into her pussy, cupping and curling inside of her so she gasped around his length. This new angle was intense, she could taste him on her breath, scent his musk from how close he was. Yet the smell of Christmas spice candle wax was still so overpowering, woven into her hair and sweaty skin, growing damp beneath her back as the chunks stuck to the bedsheets.

Ben's hips were brutal. Savage even. His fingers too. With each deep push of his hips, his digits seemed to match. Hooking at her g-spot and staying there for what felt like too long, he knew her inside and out. He knew what made her writhe and fall apart.

Yet the man made no effort to throw her into the icy depths of her orgasm, he kept her on the edge, teetering on over-stimulating as he pressed and dug his fingers into her cunt.

Danny moaned around his cock, her eyes pooling with tears as the wax littering her body continued to crack and distort to her curves. Ben was deep to the knuckle in her cunt, his thumb pressing harshly on her clit so she fought the urge to scream his name.

It sounded as if she had tried to say something, but it came out a hoarse - gagged mess. Her spit and his pre-cum was dripping down her cheeks and covering her lips, stringing from the base of his cock to her mouth. "That's it baby. Thaaat's it. Take it all."

Just the sound of his voice had her clenching, her teeth just above grazing his dick as she remembered not to close her jaw. Ben's voice was low and dangerous - and yet so praising, so soft and delicious.

Ben gave an approved growl when he dragged his the fingers from up her body, travelling over her mound and tracing over her tummy - leaving a wet trail of her arousal all the way till he rested his hand on her sternum. His thumb and forefingers pinched her nipple, eliciting another strangled noise of praise from her chest. She was physically squirming, her toes curling and her chest completely heaving.

Danny was sweating profusely, the heat from the wax had only added to her already tepid perspiration swaddled body. She was overwhelmed and overstimulated, she still couldn't bring herself to shut her eyes - Ben was watching her carefully, and she wanted to watch his eyes flash with lucid darkness as he watched his own cock disappear down her throat. Danny was sure he was about to cum, she could feel him throb against her tongue.

Everything smelt like spiced cinnamon, the hefty smell of Ben's manliness only clouding her senses more. "Do you like it when I use you like this?"

He rasped, his own breath stuttering as he pistoned his hips. Ben threw his head back, black tendrils of damp locks sticking to his forehead and sitting askew against his crown. His eyes rolled in his skull, so caught up he didn't even care that she couldn't respond. He already knew the answer.

Just when Danny was positive Ben was about to cum deep down her throat - he ripped himself away.

She didn't half dare to sit up, and it was a good job she didn't. Ben's hands grappled at her shoulders, her hair catching between his fingers as he threw her forward roughly, Danny's face smushed into the bedsheets as she was manhandled - no doubt more wax sticking to her cheeks. She had tried to support herself on her hands, bringing them from underneath herself so she could balance on her elbows; but Ben wasn't having any of that.

His fingers wrapped around her wrists, yanking her limbs back so hard the joints popped audibly.

Her lower face was completely buried in the sheets, her squeal of surprised masked by them.

The girl tried to crane her neck to speak but just as she opened her mouth - Ben plunged into her.

Spearing her so roughly on his cock that it sent her body up the bed from the force of it, with the control of her arms in his grip he pulled them back, forcing Danny to have lean against him so her body hovered a hairs-breath above the mattress.

It was painful - but that was all numbed by the bone-melting pleasure. His cock brushed her insides with a rough stroke, she was completely soaked for him yet her body always needed to adjust for his size.

Ben didn't bother starting slow either, his pace was cutthroat and unforgiving. The sound of their bodies meeting was beginning to be drowned out by the wet slosh of their body fluids. Rasping breaths were being pushed from Danny's lungs, her vision clouding and her tongue growing incredibly heavy.

Ben's sounds were music to her ears, though she couldn't see him, she knew his growls and grunts were hissed through clenched teeth. His jawline so sharp it could cut her fingertips if she touched it.

"Ah-ah, Ah! Oh Ben!" Danny couldn't understand how her own voice sounded that way, so desperate and needy for such a primal thing. It sept foreign.

It worked however, Ben went harder, if he even could; his groin slamming into her body with so much force their bodies scuffed the bedposts against the floor. She was close - and she knew he was too. Throbbing and twitching deep in her cunt, this time, he wouldn't be able to rip himself away.

Danny arched her back, her spine dipping so it created a whole new depth for him to reach.

She would have a bruised cervix undoubtedly, but that was a thought far way from now, she could just feel Ben - no pain or anything else.

The next few thrusts of his body sent her overboard, dipped to the depths of pleasure and her limp body laid prostate to hang and dry. She had screamed, such a cry that would leave the neighbours worried if they had any. Ben managed to keep his sounds much more contained, a hissed 'fuck' heaving from his throat as he gripped her ass cheeks firmly in his palms. The man dragged his cock from her pussy nice and slow, watching how his cum pooled from her hole and onto the bedsheets between her still twitching thighs. Danny shivered when he did it, her whole body jerking when she felt two of his fingers brush over her sore cunt. Ever-so-gently, Ben wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing her to lie on her back before he climbed between her legs.

With tired and hooded eyes she gazed up at him, his own irises reflecting the release of his pent up lust. He bought up his hand, and without even asking, Danny wrapped her fingers around his wrist - bringing his fingers to her mouth and sucking them dry. Their combined arousal was a taste she would never be able to describe to anyone, the musk and saltiness of him and yet the sharp sweetness of herself. Together - it was something entirely new.

The girl licked her lips, her line of sight just catching how Ben's cock jumped at her motion.

The looked at each other for a few moments -

just watching, waiting, observing.

Danny coiled a free hand through the hair at the nape of his neck, it was damp with sweat and curly too. With whatever effort she had left, she angled her shoulders from the bed and connected their lips, grinning as Ben hummed his approval and his hands snatched her hips.

It was the first Christmas of many they shared.

But it didn't mean that it was anything different from any other day of the year - Ben swore and oath to Danny that he would never hurt her.

And in some ways - he would keep that promise.

The two of them fell asleep that way, on that winter night, coiled into one another seeking warmth and protection, bellies full of too much wine and cheese and turkey Christmas dinner they had both helped to cook. So domestic. So nice. And so them.

The next day Danny would wake with a festive wreath of bruises wrapped around her skin and on that day - she would decide her New Years resolution.

Buy some better fucking concealer.

____________________________________

As always - I am really bad with these things.

As if I haven't had enough going on in life, just as I promised you guys a Christmas special...I lost my eyesight again for a couple of days. I still had to manage to work and writing was just something I physically wasn't able to do so this chapter definitely went in an entirely different direction then what I had planned - but I suppose that's okay, by some miracle I still managed to produce something semi decent so I could keep my promise.

So it goes without saying please don't mind any mistakes or errors and all that shit because honestly I am just glad I made it this far ╭∩╮(ಠ_ಠ)╭∩╮

Love you guys - Merry Christmas and I will see you in the new year with something very VERY special.

Love always,

N x


	23. 𝙸 𝙲𝙰𝙽 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙳𝙻𝚈 𝙱𝚁𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙷

It was dark. Cold too.

Simply a dark void of nothingness that held no light and no direction. Blacker then night and silent as death.

Ben's eyes strained through the blanket of feign darkness that shrouded him, like a never ending corridor that stretched on forever.

He couldn't hear his own feet beneath him, nor hear the sound of his ragged breath as his lungs heaved.

Ben couldn't feel the cold, or the warmth - he just felt numb. Nothing.

Then something brushed his neck. The slightest furl of air that felt like someone breathing against his throat, it didn't feel intimate or familiar - it felt like a phantom, an apparition that wasn't real.

His senses were tripping him, tricking his ears and eyes as he stepped through the dark.

Then he heard something. Ben heard him.

"If you truly cared for the girl Ren, you wouldn't be so blind as to not see the danger you're putting her in."

For the first time since falling into the darkness, he could clearly make something out in the pitch black

\- or rather...

Someone.

It was a blur at first, but as the words rang through the air around him, Ben could catch the silhouette standing just a mere few feet in front of him.

"It won't have been Ushar that ended her life"

A breath

"It will have been you."

As the phantom drew closer, Ben's eyes widened.

There was a bullet hole nestled right through his abdomen, blood spattering his hands, neck and shirt as he continued forward. The viscous crimson liquid stained his shoes, spattered the ground as he stepped forward with a stuttered stride.

Never in his life had Ben ever backed down from something, but this felt wrong - indecent.

When the man tried to step back, he found he couldn't. Held to the ground by his feet like glue.

Suddenly his throat felt tight, a rush of cold sweat sheening over his brow and dampening his hair.

He tried to move again, but still he was rooted.

The false apparition of his lost friend didn't cease it's approach, if anything - it only drew nearer.

Still muttering those words as his steps grew longer.

"It will have been you."

Over and over again. Armitage spoke those words.

On repeat, never ending.

Ben felt his tongue grow heavy for his jaw, his body frozen as he still fought to squirm.

When Ben re-focussed his eyes, he was merely inches from Hux. The phantom now nose to nose with him.

His eyes were sharp, jaw locked tightly in disgust.

"It will have been you."

The man trapped in the darkness wished so badly to speak, but he wasn't granted that either. All he could do was stare, gaze into the eyes of his lost brother -

a man he never knew, never truly even tried to know.

Like a snapped wire, Armitage's hand suddenly shot up - grappling at Ben's throat, his slender fingers hooked behind the man's neck, forcing the raven haired man to look down. It was then that Hux's other hand shot out, snatching Ben's free hand in a vice like grip. Still Ben couldn't fight it, he was forced to stand and stare, to watch this unfold. 

There was no warning for what happened next, before Ben could realise - his fingers were imbedded deeply into the gunshot wound in Armitage's abdomen. In that moment, he regained feeling in his body - he couldn't feel either of Hux's hands on his skin, it didn't feel like anyone was really there.

But Ben could feel everything else. The ooze from the gunshot wound felt more the real, the warmth and the pulse were still there - yet fading.

Ben could feel the blood stain his fingers and run down his wrist, as he tried to pull his hand back - Armitage refused to let him go, only forcing Ben's fingers deeper.

It made him feel sick at how real it all felt. He'd done worse to people, much worse for much less.

He'd enjoyed it, Ben had enjoyed hurting people.

This...this was sick. Not one second of what he was enduring was anything less then terrifying.

Hux was still speaking, muttering gutturally over and over again.

"If you truly cared for the girl Ren, you wouldn't be so blind as to not see the danger you're putting her in."

Not even a pause.

"It won't have been Ushar that ended her life"

A breath.

"It will have been you."

"Kylo?"..."Kylo."..."Oi."...

"Wake up." 

"Ben!"

/

Vicrul's shoulders began to ache, a dull throb overtaking his upper back and neck as he sat slumped against the headboard.

He and Danny had woken hours ago, risen with the sun as the drugs from the night before began to wear thin in their blood. The girl hadn't said a word, she didn't need to, Vic knew that - so he didn't push.

He was hardly able to string together a conversation himself, the events of last night still hadn't kicked in yet, the initial rawness of it all still chipping away - readying to create a catastrophic landslide.

Maybe the drugs weren't fully out of his system yet, still a slight thrum of aching tiredness under his skin. Yet - he didn't wish to sleep again.

Danny somehow managed to shimmy her way out of the bed, being skilfully sandwiched between two hulked masses of death and muscle had made it a task and a half to climb out of bed without disturbing either of the men. Of course Vic was awake but that didn't mean he needed to be disturbed by having Danny clamber all over him, Ben had been dragged into bed by her at some point in the early morning, much to his dismay. Clearly he needed the rest, he'd been out like a light ever since.

Kitten chose to leave by shimmying out the end of the bed, thus not needing to clamber over either of the resting men.

It was ironic really. Never had she ever thought she'd live to see the day she woke up between Ben and Vic, not without the German's pulse no longer running that is. In any other circumstance, Danny would have been giddy or nervous - but it had taken such a heavy loss for fait to bring the three of them that close. It felt somewhat wrong, Vicrul had lost his lover last night, and now she'd shared his bed.

She'd kept him company in the night, caught his hand when he reached out, curled herself into his chest when he sought out the touch.

Ben had been at her back, his nose nestled into her hair as his hands clutched for any part of her he could manage. Yet it all still felt so wrong.

Danny had taken Armitage away, but she'd never be able to fill that void he'd left behind. Never.

Vicrul didn't know where Danny went, he didn't seek to follow her or ask, there was no need for it in his eyes. He had willed himself to catch a few more hours, but his body refused, his brain beginning to replay last night over and over cruelly.

As he sat up to rest his back against Ben's headboard, he couldn't help but notice how his friend's entire body jolted. It was sudden, a full tremor that even took Vic by surprise.

The German's brow furrowed, then another jolt came, less thorough then the first one but still as firm. He thought nothing of it at first, he knew his friend suffered in sleep much like he did.

The phrase 'How do you sleep at night?' had taken an entirely new meaning to the two of them over the past few years.

As Ben's short fits continued, Vicrul couldn't leave his friend wherever he was in his mind. He knew what chased him while he slept, so he couldn't bare to imagine what demons hid around the corners in his friends nightmares.

Vicrul pressed a hand into his friends shoulder, barely nudging him - he got no response.

When Vic's hands came in contact, Ben only thrashed more; almost like he was behind chased.

"Kylo?"

The man only started to tremble more violently, his eyelids spasming while his jaw locked and shook.

"Kylo." He tried, "Oi." Vicrul's brow furrowed, he turned his attention fully to his friend, both of his hands now moving to smooth the skin of his closest arm and on his neck.

As soon as Vicrul's hand came into contact with Ben's neck, the man screamed. Wailed as if the German's touch had scolded his skin, the sound made Vic's blood run stone cold.

He took to shaking his friend now, moving his hands to Ben's shoulders as he began to try and shock him awake.

"Wake up." Vicrul's throat felt dry, his mind beginning to reel back towards last night.

Something seemed to slot into place within the German's mind, he'd been sceptical when he heard it from Danny's tongue at some point this morning -

yet he knew it might be worth a try.

So - he finally dared himself to say it.

"Ben!"

It was as if he'd been dowsed in ice cold water, his body jerked up, the sheets flying from where they were resting on his waist as he turned his body to face his friend. Ben's body was on the defence, his hands grabbed for Vicrul and his eyes were split like broken flint - sharp and full of pain.

Vicrul didn't say anything, he raised his hands, pleading with Ben through his eyes.

He needed a moment. Saying that name after so many years, it felt so wrong - like he shouldn't have been saying it at all. After so many years of that boy being dead, he'd been here all along. Existing right under his nose, the light had never left Ben's heart - he was no longer a lost cause like his brothers were.

One thing ran through Vicrul's mind - was Ben ever planning on telling him?

Why had it had to come from Kitten's lips?

She thought Vicrul had been asleep when she whispered that name. She'd pleaded with her lover to come to bed, to rest with her, lay with her, hold her.

What a cruel fucking joke.

What Vicrul was feeling wasn't jealousy, he didn't want Danny, through no fault of her judgement or character. Even without Ben in the picture, they simply wouldn't have been meant to be, he may have been bisexual but his heart would always belong to Armitage. No matter how bad things had gotten over the last year, no matter how much they told one another that they hated each other - they always came together at the end of the day, they wouldn't apologise verbally, but the thought was still there.

Ben's eyes widened, his gaze falling to his own hands as they sought to threaten his friend. He snatched them away, craning his neck to survey the room as if he thought he was still falling through his dreams.

The raven haired man wet his lips, swallowing a much needed gulp of air as he swept his sweat-damp hair back up off his clammy forehead.

"I feel sick." Ben's voice was strained, as if he really was about to vomit his guts out. He didn't.

Vicrul sighed. He peeled the covers from his hips and swung his feet over the bed, the man let his elbows rest on his knees so he could hold his head in his hands - rubbing his fingers slowly into his temples.

A silence hung between them for a few minutes, but it felt like forever. The air was freezing, an eery twang lingering within it.

Both men expected the other to break the silence, but nether of them could bring themselves to do it.

Until Ben had enough.

"She told you, didn't she?"

His voice was quiet, smaller and more broken the Vicrul had ever heard it. In all their years together, Ben had stood tall - unfaltering. Now he'd let the light back in, piece by piece rebuilding himself till the softness took hold.

Ben was letting himself fall from the wagon, perhaps he'd jumped from it months ago - maybe he wanted to leave everything behind.

Vicrul clenched his jaw, unbeknownst to Ben.

"No. Not directly." He kept his voice low too, it's all he could manage, he was sure his screams had perhaps torn a cord or two last night.

Before Ben could speak again or jump the gun, Vicrul continued, maintaining his tone.

"I heard her call for you this morning."

Ben wasn't a complete fucking idiot. He'd known Vicrul for over a decade, they could read each other like a damn book.

"I was going to tell you." He said, throwing his gaze over towards the ceiling. 

"I just hadn't found the right time to do it."

Ben's voice grew quieter, a sign of his own disappointment within his own actions.

Vicrul didn't move. It didn't even sound like he was breathing.

"How long has she known?" Vic turned his neck, just slightly, barely enough for Ben to see a small portion of his face.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Ben's eyes fell. He knew Vic wouldn't like what he had to say.

"A couple of months."

Nothing but silence.

Ben was certain he could hear a clock ticking, but he didn't own a clock. It was all in his head, a taunting and cruel trick of his mind.

Vicrul's voice took him off guard.

"How long have you known?"

This time, Vicrul didn't move to turn around, he stayed facing forward, his face no longer buried in his hands. Ben was left staring at the vast tattooed frame of his brother, a brother who didn't share his blood - they grown up together, bloomed together, killed together.

The two of them had trecked to hell and back together, yet...they'd never felt as far apart as they did now. Simply two halves of the same coin.

Ben didn't need to think over his answer, what would be the point? Vicrul already knew.

"Years."

The word was a whisper, nothing more the a wisp of breath from his chest. It hurt. Everything hurt.

"I still remember the night you tried to swallow that bullet, it will stay with me till the day I die."

Ben stayed silent, a knot growing in his throat.

"You were so adamant that you wanted to die.

You were so much bigger then me, you could have pulled the trigger if you really wanted to..."

Vic paused, needing a breath.

"You chose to give me that gun. You chose to keep living."

Another breath.

"When I used to think back to it, I always thought you were trying to kill a part of you, the part of you that was still good."

Ben wanted to leave, he wanted to stuff cotton in his ears so he didn't have to listen, he wanted to run because that's how he had always solved his problems.

"Then it finally hit me..."

"You were trying to kill the bad part."

Tears collected behind Ben's eyes, but he refused to let them fall, he couldn't let them go.

Then a timid knock on the frame of the door snapped them both back to the room, their masks dropping back into place as they turned to face the sound.

It was Danny. Showered and clean, silky - damp hair piled atop her head with her face still flushed pink from where she'd washed it. In each of her hands she held two steaming mugs of what smelt like coffee, the index finger of her right hand still positioned from where she'd carefully used it to knock and make her presence known.

"I thought you could both use the strong roast."

Just from her voice, Ben could tell she'd cried more, it was evident in her eyes too - a raw pinkness lining her irises.

She didn't move right away, she could taste the shift in the air, could smell the tension between the two men before her. Her feet didn't listen to her, as much as she wanted to step toward them, she didn't.

It wasn't until she met Ben's eye did she finally snap herself away from her thought, the fuzzy socks on her feet shifting static over the carpet as she walked.

Danny shuffled over to Ben first, gently placing the mug in his hand before she leant forward - pressing a lingering kiss to his lips.

She tasted of fruit tea and minty toothpaste.

The girl used her newly freed hand to brush a curl behind his ear, her thumb rubbing over his cheek before she turned to round the other side of the bed.

She was more tentative when she neared closer to the German, she pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheek - holding her breath still.

He didn't meet her eye when she placed the mug in his hand, the steam billowing and licking up at the air between the two of them.

Danny felt that pang of guilt in her chest again.

She thought she would be doing the right thing if she held onto some form of normality, yes she could grieve, but she could do it alone. It was her responsibility to hold the three of them together now, she hadn't known Armitage for years like Vic and Ben had - she had no right to become immobile with grief and pain.

If she could continue forward and try and act okay, then the two men might not feel as responsible, they could allow themselves to recover while Danny attempted to maintain life as normal.

The girl lowered her gaze - defeated. She turned to move away but Vicrul's voice snagged her back, made her stand still in her tracks.

"Thank you." He rasped, eyes low and jaw still set in stone. Danny's eyes had been drawn to him, as if she was trying to decipher wether he had really spoken or not.

Vicrul wasn't thanking her for the coffee - all three of them knew that. Last night he'd been inconsolable, naturally he was in no shape to talk about what had happened. A large part of Vic was grateful that Hux hadn't been all alone, as much as Ben and Danny both thought Armitage to be a complete arse -

He wasn't. By no means did he hold sentiment for Danny, he barely had a soft spot for anyone, but that didn't mean he didn't care. Because he did.

She was innocent in all of this, the last thing he wanted was for her to get caught in the crossfire.

Armitage hadn't been alone when he died, Ushar hadn't caught him with his back turned and left him to die all alone in that alleyway. Kenjiro had left Danny alive for a reason, rather then get rid of her too he had spared her life - for what?

Danny smiled solemnly, taking Vicrul's chin in her hand and angling his jaw so he was forced to meet her eye. Silence followed - they just stared at one another, as if trying to convey words through each other's minds.

She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came, the words were right on the tip of her tongue - but she couldn't let them free.

Danny dropped her hold on his chin and let her hand fall to his shoulder, she brushed her hand across the tattooed plain of skin before she stepped away - making her way back through the doorway.

As much as she wanted to stay, as much as she wanted to say something - she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was too cowardly to speak her heart.

Ben watched her leave. Listened to each footstep as she descended back down the stairs, no doubt keeping herself out of the way on purpose.

He was glad that she'd interrupted when she did, he didn't know what he would have said if she hadn't.

Ben purposely buried those memories away.

Back to a time when he saw no point in living, a time when he wanted nothing more then to be free of his pain. The light within him only grew stronger, and Snoke sought to snuff it out, even if that meant ripping it out of Ben with his bare hands.

For years the man had suffered through his own turmoils, trapped within his own mind with no escape. He'd been forced to live a life he didn't want, a promise of freedom had lead him to walk into an even bigger nightmare. Instead of taking him away from the abuse and neglect of his parents, Snoke had only bought him into an even worse situation.

He was forced to fight, forced to break his brothers down because he was the biggest and the oldest.

For so many years Ben had to watch more kids get beaten and broken down till there was nothing left of them, they had their characters stripped away - the brightness that was once behind their eyes now gone forever.

He'd been in his early twenties at the time, barely able to call himself a man. Already at that age he'd killed, forced to do Snoke's dirty work with little to no choice on how he did it. Each time Ben took a life, it chipped away a small piece of him, and he would never ever get that piece of himself back - no matter how he tried to redeem himself.

Ben had drank himself into oblivion that night, in such a mess that he could barely even hold himself up straight. His gun had been right there, sat on the coffee table, watching him - taunting him. Or at least that's what he remembers of it.

The thought suddenly stabbed at his mind, so intrusive that there wasn't a way he couldn't act on it. He barely even registered picking it up, didn't feel the barrel jutt against his teeth and poke into the roof of his mouth.

The only thing he remembers feeling were the tears. How freely they fell, how he didn't fight to hold them back. Ben just- let them come.

His chest hiccuped up with cries, his finger hovering and trembling over the trigger as he fought with himself. The way his eyes screwed shut when the salty tears began to sting, he remembers that.

He remembered the way his body reacted, the tremors that forced him to his knees on the floor.

Shaking like a leaf, the guns barrel still in his mouth with the barrel clacking against his teeth.

It was like a memory of yesterday, so vivid and clear.

Ben didn't remember Vicrul busting through the front door. He didn't remember punching his friend so hard he had to have his jaw re-wired.

Ben remembers the darkness that followed, the way he fell in and out of his own mind. That's the last he can remember of that night.

Vicrul remembered it very differently. What was supposed to be other normal night, turned into a nightmare. He'd walked up his friend's drive without even giving it a second thought, he gazed through the window expecting to see his friend sat slugging a whiskey or reading the paper.

Instead he found his brother hunched into himself on the ground, eyes blank and hands itching around that gun. Vicrul had never run so fast in his life, he'd never felt dread like he felt it that night, because without Ben, he felt like he was nothing.

In his drunken and disoriented state, Ben hadn't realised it was Vicrul, when the German laid hands on him in an attempt to grapple the gun away - Ben had seen red instead. Swinging hits like his life depended on it, because as far as he was concerned, it did.

Despite the blow he'd taken to his jaw, Vicrul didn't let himself stop, he fought to get a hold of that gun from his brother's hand. He'd gifted Ben a hit of his own, distracting him for long enough that he ripped the gun right out of Ben's fingers. He switched the safety on and threw the weapon across the floor, hearing it skid across the laminate and hit something.

Vicrul had tried to speak but it all came out a gargle of numb words, the pain was excruciating, but it would never compare to the pain he would feel if he lost Ben. Not brothers by blood, but brothers by default. They lived together and died together.

"You should go to her."

Vicrul's tone was cutting, like he'd bitten off the words. Ben knew his heart was hearting, he didn't blame Vic for how he was, how could he?

"Vic, can we just-"

"We'll talk about it later. Go, she needs you more then I do."

Ben was in no shape to argue, and he knew his friend wasn't either, but it didn't feel right to just leave him there. Not on his own.

"Get dressed and come down, help yourself to anything from my walk in."

With his last words, Ben didn't hang around, he theorised that maybe there was a reason Vic wanted him gone. Perhaps the man needed a minute to himself, maybe he just needed some silence.

Right now, whatever Vicrul needed, Ben wasn't about to argue with that.

So he left, still in his boxers with bare feet he made his way down the hallway, rounded down the steps and held tightly onto his cup of joe as he went.

When he rounded the kitchen, he expected to find Kitten there, brewing a tea or rooting around his biscuit cupboard - a new addition since she'd been around. Only - she wasn't there at all.

He checked the pantry and there was still no sign, with his open plan living space locating her should have been easy, but clearly not.

Despite his slow business as of late, Ben's senses would never go back to how they were before the First Order, his eyes and ears would forever match that of a superhuman.

A slight breeze shifted behind him, a cold whisper licking at the back of his neck. His body turned toward it, eyes finding his patio door just ever so slightly ajar.

The man couldn't help but smile, he knew she loved that garden, of course that's where she'd go.

Danny hardly had a green thumb herself but she'd tried her best to pump some life back into the shoddy garden, she'd replanted bulbs and raked the leaves - attempted anything to bring the brightness back to it.

Ben's body moved on it's own, long legs carrying him as his big splayed over the glass to push open the door. It didn't take his eyes long to find her, she was out beyond the path, sitting on the very same wall the two of them had sat and spoke on those months ago. Hardly romantic with death looming so freshly overhead.

Danny never heard him coming, didn't even catch onto his bare feet patting along the stone.

He'd managed to make his presence known before he scared the ever-living-shit out of her altogether, but as he got closer, he noticed she was on the phone.

She'd locked eyes with him as she continued to natter on to whoever was on the receiver, giving him a meek wave with her free hand. Ben plonked himself down right next to her, gifting her no breathing room even if she wanted it.

"Thank you for being so understanding with everything, I promise I'll come and see you as soon as I can, I'll tell you more then. Truly Kade, thank you. Bye."

Her mask fell as soon at she ended the call, the easiness draining from her face as the seconds ticked by. Ben knew this would be difficult for her, Ben and Vicrul had seen their fair share of dead bodies, she didn't need to see that.

"That the boss?" He asked, knowing the answer but needing to make conversation before the silence strangled him.

Danny hummed in answer, retracting her steaming cup of fruit tea from her side where it had been out of Ben's eye line. She took a timid sip after blowing away the steam first, a quiet slurping sound finding Ben's ears as he looked out into his garden.

He felt her eyes on him, could almost feel her frown burn right through him.

"You'll catch hypothermia like this." She removed one of her hands from caressing her mug, using it as leverage on Ben's thigh to pull herself closer to him, bundling into his side to provide him with at least some warmth.

He smiled slightly to himself as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Hot blooded Kitten, always have been."

An entire childhood of hunching into himself to try and stay warm because his parents couldn't afford to pay their bills had taken it's effects on him.

Danny pressed her cheek to his pec, nuzzling her face into him as if she wished to melt right into him.

"I've been thinking.." She looked up, seeing he was already looking down at her.

Danny swallowed, Ben's eyes were as deep as ever. 

"You can smoke if you want to. I won't be mad."

It sounded dumb now she was saying it out loud.

He was a grown man for fuck sake, of course he knew he could smoke, he could do whatever he wanted. She would never have said it if he hadn't made a point to quit, after she'd spoken with him about it last, Ben hadn't touched a cigarette or cigar since. Sure he'd been close a few times, even had to buy himself nicotine chewing gum for the first few weeks. But he never so much as went to light one.

No matter how bad his nightmares got or how much stress he carried, he never gave into his craving, because Danny had asked him to stop; and for her - Ben would do anything.

The man seemed confused by what she said, his brows furrowed and eyes narrowed.

"I don't need to." He said, his body softening slightly against her frame.

Of course Danny was glad to hear it, but she couldn't help but feel like he was just saying what he knew she wanted to hear.

Danny bought her hand to his shoulder, forcing his eyes to refocus on her own. "I mean it Ben, I know quitting has been shitty for you, and I know you're doing this for me - I just don't want to see you stressed. If it helps, I won't be mad at you."

Ben would pay to see the day Danny got mad at him, what a sight that would be.

The man placed his hand over hers, rubbing over her fingers as they rested cold against the skin of his shoulder. "I quit for a reason Danny, no point breaking my streak now." Ben's words seemed genuine, but Danny couldn't help but think otherwise.

Yet she also knew better then to pry or push the subject, she smiled softly - looking back out into the garden as the breeze shifted slightly.

Danny's fingers escaped Ben's, her hand running down till she brushed over his shoulder blade.

It caught her attention and she drew her gaze back to him, only to find him staring where she had been.

"Your shoulder looks better." She gifted softly, tracing her fingertips with precise care over the knitting skin. The laughable stitches she had used to patch him up were long gone, taken out now the skin was pink and healing. Danny didn't need to ask who had sorted his wound, she knew exactly who Ben would have gone to - she didn't need to hear his name again.

Ben cast his gaze down to her, following the line of her arm till he craned his neck to look back over his shoulder. Her statement was true - it looked ten times better then it had done a few weeks ago.

The man still hadn't shared with Danny who had attacked him that night, right now; it was too raw for that. Neither Danny or Vicrul could take another hit.

Ben's wound was now a knitted patch of skin that was pink and fleshly, still slightly sore at the edges but far from infected. He put it down to the placement of it, between working out and his other forms of physical activity - it would take a while for the flexing skin to knit back together fully.

"It feels better." He rumbled, taking a strong sip of his deep brew.

Another silence enveloped them, bar the sound of the rustling grass and swaying shrubs.

It should have been peaceful, the sound of nature humming around the two of them - it should have calmed them. It did anything but calm.

Danny's brain was a mangled mess of red and auburn, the lifeless nature of Armitage's eyes would forever be ingrained into her mind. Each time she closed her eyes she'd see him, staring back with colourless eyes and a pale face.

Danny had taken Jake's death hard, not for sentimental reasons, fuck him for what he did.

It hit hard because of the state he was in, his skull was already half smashed in and his body was crippled beyond belief - but he was still alive. 

At the time she didn't understand, it was harder to come to terms with what Ben was, what Kylo used to be. Danny never asked and never wanted to know what happened to Jake after that night, he didn't deserve to be thought of.

Armitage was different. Danny didn't know him and yet his death was on her hands, it should have been her with a bullet in her chest. She should have died last night, yet he put himself in harms way for the sake of sparing her life, and for what?

Hux had a man that loved him, he had enough money to burn, and he still threw that away for her.

The first time they had met Armitage had literally cringed when he laid eyes on her, he'd made a point to make his opinion of her known.

From what Danny could gather, he and Ben had never been very close, at least not close enough to throw away his life away for.

That was the point of the matter. If it had been Danny that died, what would Ben have done?

It was hard to imagine would was ensue when Ben caught wind of Danny's death. Utter destruction.

Danny wet her lips to speak, taking another sip of her tea before the feeling of nausea was swallowed back down.

"He told me-...Armitage said to-" she physically struggled to speak, a tight coil clogging her throat as she held back the tears burning her eyes.

She felt so weak in front of Ben like this.

Her fingers trembled against her mug, shaking like she'd been flogged by the icy cold.

It was Ben's hand that stilled her. His mug was abandoned by his opposite side, his newly freed hands forming protection over hers, keeping her steady with a strong foundation of his touch.

"Don't hurt yourself Kitten, take your time."

His voice was a breathe of fresh tranquility, like her anxiety was washed away from where it weighted her shoulders. Danny would never get over his ability to do that, Ben was so big and brash and rough around the edges. Yet - by some miracle, he had such a soft soul. For so many years he'd built himself into this tough, muscled mass of death and intimidation; but he wasn't what he looked like. The true definition of never judge a book by it's cover, under all of his ragged edges, Ben was so gentle. Throughout his life he'd been beaten and bashed and bruised by everyone, his parents - Snoke. His temper was still sour a lot of the time but that came as now surprise, this man had to literally hold himself together for a lot of his time. Mentally and physically. He hadn't had any support, he'd never had a shoulder to cry on. Vicrul said it himself all those months ago, Ben wouldn't open up to him, another toxic trait he held as he'd grown older. Holding his turmoil and terror in his chest like a rotting tumour, killing him from the inside out like a viscous cancer.

Despite all of the shit he'd endured, despite all of the blood and broken bones. Ben came out the other side. That little shard of light that sat in his chest had kept him alive, all of the darkness and tar that resided in his heart was no match for the light that stayed rooted beneath his ribcage.

Danny met Ben's eye, seeing the beauty in them despite the rising light. When she first met him she'd thought they were as black as coal, dangerous as the night; but now - they reminded her of honey.

Amber acorns catching the light, shining their smooth tint as they sway on the timid branches.

The depth in them never left, but darkness and rigidness did. No longer were they hard and cut like flint, now they were more attentive, softer yet still so analytical. In this light, in his own garden, his eyes were so bright - like molten copper.

The girl moved to open her mouth again but her own throat silenced her, not letting her speak.

It was like her chest was in a vice, squeezed beyond belief till the air was forced from her lungs.

Danny didn't understand what was happening, it made her eyes widen and her lip quiver.

She felt panicked and clammy, everything was overwhelming - the world seeming to swallow her.

But Ben was there, just like he always was.

His touch kept her there, unable to let her thoughts cloud her thoughts. He'd removed her mug from her hands, completely pulling her into his chest so she was astride his lap. She found he wasn't lying, he really was hot blooded.

Ben buried his lips into her hair, shushing her as he did so. Again - his soft side shining through.

Danny clutched for him, fingers grabbing any skin she could reach. The girl couldn't help but bury her face into his chest, his touch and his scent calming her within an instant.

He smelt like home.

"Give yourself some time Danny. There's no rush."

She felt the words rumble from his chest beneath her cheek, the vibrations running through her skin.

She believed him. Never had Ben ever given her doubt, despite the secrets and the stretched truths, he'd never purposely lied to her face for his own gain. Danny had every faith in Ben that things would turn out okay, maybe she was stupid for thinking this was over, she just wanted to avoid the inevitable for a little while longer.

Danny weakly nodded against him, muttering something that sounded like an 'okay' to Ben's ears.

He cradled her even tighter, as if she were simply a doll in his brutish grip. He held her as if she would slip right through his fingers, Danny didn't know it, but that's what last night had felt like.

He could have lost her forever, it had been so close. From now on, he'd hold her like it was his last chance to do it. It just might be.

\

The rain continued as it had done the day before. The slight breaks in it's teary onslaught were short lived and fitful, like the heavens had indeed opened.

Ben had bought Danny inside after some time, her body cooling from the weather and his own heat beginning to die away had forced him to retreat from his garden. He could see she was tired but she fought through it, gifting Ben a peck to the cheek before she dragged herself to the kitchen - muttering something about making the three of them a meal with some actual 'sustenance'. God knew they could use it.

The man watched her go, not fighting her even though he knew she should try sleep some more.

His thoughts trailed back to earlier this morning, Vicrul's words still weighing heavy on his mind.

It had been so long since he talked about he, in fact - he didn't recall ever having to speak of it after the night in question. Vic had never bought it up, feeding some ridiculous excuse to Snoke about his shattered jaw bone instead of telling the truth.

Ben had never had to let his mind linger over that dark period of his life, that night had been swept under the rug as if it never happened, perhaps that was better the dwelling on it for too long.

Before Ben could even stop himself, he was ascending the stair case, making a b-line for his own room. His hand hesitated over the door handle for a split second before he gathered himself, a rush of adrenaline spiking his blood and feeding his confidence.

Vicrul didn't look at all surprised to see him burst through the door, it was as if he knew he'd come.

The German continued what he was doing, shrugging on a clean shirt he'd gotten from Ben's walk in, it was a dusty grey colour and it stuck to his still damp skin from the shower he'd just taken.

Ben wasn't thinking about his clothes, his kind was still stuck around Vicrul's words, he needed to say his pieces. While he still could.

Ben composed himself, clearing his throat before he strode over to the bed, sitting himself down with his back facing Vicrul so his face was hidden. Maybe it would be easier then, not having to wear his mask while he finally opened up about that dark day.

Vicrul had used it as leverage once, an argument over Kitten, about the kiss. The German had chosen then to spit a sour insult Ben's way, but he had little idea about just how deep it had cut him.

"Little bit cold to walk around naked isn't it?"

It was hard listening to the sound of Vic's voice, where it was usually so full of cockiness and oozing with grit, now - now it was just empty. As grey and pale as the sky outside the rain spattered window.

Ben hummed, not quite able to think of something to say back. It hardly felt like he could be sarcastic, and for the life of him he didn't have it in him to bite the German's head off, not today.

"I don't know what to say to you." Ben's voice was loud enough for Vicrul to hear, but it felt like Ben had water in his ears, the blood rushing over his ear drums like a rapid water fall.

The silence was louder for a few seconds, his heart was ramming against his ribcage. Bruising.

"Better him then her."

What?

Ben's breathing stopped completely, he didn't believe what he'd heard at all.

He snapped his head around so fast it could have broken his neck, the look in his eye was one of sharp disgust.

Vicrul was leaning against the window sill, arms folded over his chest while he craned his neck to watch the raindrops race down the glass.

He looked calm in his body, but his mind was a cluster fuck of pain and sorrow.

His eyes have that much away, how empty and cold they were now.

The German cocked his head slightly, meeting Ben's eyes, seeing how tight his jaw was too.

"Don't tell me you disagree, I can tell when you lie."

Ben wanted to shout. He wanted to break something, wether it was the window or Vic's jaw again.

"Don't you fucking dare." Ben spat, his eyes falling to the floor. He could feel his chest swelling and the way his blood began to simmer through his veins.

Vicrul cocked his head again, sort of in a mocking way, like he didn't understand Ben's anger.

"You would have killed yourself if it had been her. Hux knew the risks, she had no place being in the firing line."

Vic spoke with such coldness, he couldn't even bring himself to say Armitage's name. Ben wasn't dense, he knew what Vicrul was trying to do, he was trying to disassociate - he was trying to put distance between himself and Hux to try and stop the pain.

Ben clicked his tongue. "You're a real spineless prick, you know that?" His tone was deflated, he wasn't willing to fight with his friend.

Vicrul returned his gaze to the window, again watching the struggle of the raindrops fall behind the glass.

"I didn't survive this long by being a good person." 

Ben was slightly taken aback. This side of Vicrul was rarely ever seen, he never took pleasure in revealing how he felt, like many men. It wasn't something that came naturally to him, something else that he and Ben shared.

"We've never really spoken about that night, have we?" Ben muttered.

That got Vic's attention, his eyes were narrowed, focused pointedly on Ben from across the room.

"I don't remember much of it. I just remember you."

Vicrul didn't speak, wether or not it was because he couldn't or that he didn't wish to interrupt Ben

\- it wasn't clear.

"It's all a blur to me when I look back at it now, but I can remember you clearly, your voice...you sounded so- so hurt." Ben swallowed the lump building in his throat.

The tension swam in the air, like a veil that blanketed them - stuffy and warm in the worst possible way.

"I've never had anyone look after me, all my life I've been passed around from pillar to post, then I met you - Ben."

That name from his mouth sounded so real.

"It felt like I really did have a big brother, you had no reason to look out for me, but you did anyway."

The words were rolling from Vicrul's tongue now, like he was finally ready to speak his mind.

"I was just a little kid back then, scared of my own fucking shadow, I was scared of the dark for fucks sake. You let me sleep at the end of your bed when I couldn't sleep, you gave me food off your plate when I was still hungry - you taught me how to be a man."

Ben's tongue felt too heavy for his jaw to carry, everything was washing over him.

Guilt, pride, sadness. All of it.

"I never had a dad or a brother. I never had a real family, yet you made sure I was looked after.

Snoke didn't know how to look after kids, you were still a kid yourself and you practically raised the rest of us. We never told you how thankful we are for that."

Vic couldn't meet Ben's eye now, his stare was practically glued to the floor, unable to lift.

It was all true. Between Vicrul, Cardo and the twins - Ap'lek and Kuruk, Ben had definitely had his hands full. Luckily for a lanky teenage Ben, Trudgen and Ushar had been able to take care of themselves - not because they were old enough, but because they were too wired up in their own ways.

Trudgen had been about Ben's age and fully capable of looking out for himself, but Ushar...he'd been a pain from the start. Sure his life before the First Order had left him scarred and traumatised, but that hadn't meant he was able to take proper care of himself. While the other boys were taken under Ben's wing, Ushar flat out refused his help, instead trying to prove himself to Snoke by making out he didn't need anyone but himself.

How well that had clearly worked out for him.

"To think that you wanted to die so badly, it hurt. For so many years I'd been happily living in your shadow, I felt safe there, protected almost.

If I lost you - I don't know what I'd do with myself."

Ben felt the tears stinging the back of his eyes, they were fighting so hard to break through.

"Why are you only saying all of this now?"

Ben rasped, his chest feeling so so tight.

Vicrul's eyes raised, tears swelled within them as he spoke again.

"Because it feels like the right thing to do."

Ben's back was still facing his friend, then he dropped his gaze between his knees to his feet.

Not letting Vicrul see the tears that fell to the floor.

"She's really somethin' Ben, it'd be a shame for you to lose that just because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm glad he did what he did, I would have done the same."

Although Ben wasn't looking at Vic, he could tell he was struggling just through his voice, maybe he was crying too - he couldn't quite tell.

"She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. Most of the time I find it hard to believe she's even real, and I know I don't deserve her - it's just-

I'm too selfish to let her go."

Ben took a breath, swallowing down his guilt.

He could barely hear Vic breathe, it was unsettling.

"Does that make me a bad person?"

The man didn't know what kind of answer he was looking for, or if he even wanted one at all.

Ben jumped when a hand was laid on his shoulder, when he turned to meet Vic's eye - he saw only pity.

He hated that. Pity. It had swallowed him long ago, chewed him up and spit him out to the dogs.

All his life he'd had to look after himself, dragging himself through the years and wiping away his own tears with his pillow at night. Ben had never been touched in a way that calmed him, he'd never been tucked in at night, never seen a birthday that didn't bring broken glass and snapped leather.

His whole life had shown him pain and pity and he hated that, he hated that for too many years he watched his own mother be beaten and broken -

she watched Ben too, she let the man she married rip into their son; literally and metaphorically tearing chunks out of him. Ben never blamed her for standing back, he never once wished that she jumped in to help him, he was glad it was him.

When he landed under Snoke's thumb, it didn't get any better. The painless life he was promised had been a lie, simply a lure, and poor Ben had taken the bait. He may have had a warm meal in his belly and a soft bed to sleep in at night, but a nice bed was no good when you have stitches in your cheek and a broken wrist that makes it impossible to get comfortable.

The life Ben wanted was seeming more and more impossible, he had such a clever mind too, a waste of such talents he had. Instead of pursuing a career to put his big brain to good use like law or accounting, he was left to lead the life of a monster.

That's all he was. That's all he saw himself as.

A monster.

After what felt like the longest few seconds of his life, Ben heard Vicrul sigh, could feel his breath caress down through the hair at the back of his neck.

"I think it makes you human." He said, it was hard to hear the strength of his accent when he spoke so quietly, Ben noted that it made a nice change.

There was no denying the tremor that shook Ben's shoulders as it travelled through him and ran up his spine, the tears had been held back for so long, for so so long. It was hard to remember a time when he didn't feel like screaming, where he finally felt at ease enough that he didn't have to watch behind his shoulder just incase.

Years of hatred and neglect and pity had shaped him into something terrible, he felt little empathy and struggled to voice himself. He was unsociable and incapable of functioning like many other normal people would, outside of the First Order and Kitten...he didn't speak to anyone. He kept himself to himself, Ben told himself that's because that's how he liked it, but he soon came to realise that he knew no different.

Ben held his face in his hands, with his elbows pressed to his knees he couldn't help but let his body cowl forwards. He hadn't known it, but he needed to hear those words.

"Whatever we do now, we need to keep her out of it."

Somehow, Ben managed to keep the venom in his voice, it wasn't directed towards Vicrul.

All that poison was reserved especially for Ushar.

Vic was quiet for a moment, as if mulling his thoughts around his head, levelling up what words were best to leave his lips next.

"What exactly are we doing next?" He asked,

a genuine curiosity lingering in his tone.

Ben took his hands from his face, a look etched from marble stone painting his features. As he rose to a stand, Vic's arm fell from his shoulder, the German didn't back away - he had no need to.

As Ben met his eye, it was clear what their next point of call was, maybe he didn't need to even say it - but it was like he wanted to.

"Our last job."

\

Danny was dicing some onions. A perfectly cliché way to hide her tears that weren't caused by the vegetable.

It hadn't been long - but this was the trickiest part.

In the shallow moments of mundane silence she found herself in, that's when his voice was louder, when his image was clearer. He was hard to shake, but that was another thing - Danny didn't want to shake him. Not just yet anyway.

In a cruel and self deprecating way, she wanted to be the butt of his torment. She was responsible for his death, the weight of it was sat squarely on her shoulders, nothing and no one could change that.

The vegetables were probably past their best, a little soft in spots but still good enough for a stew.

Ben had little in the house, not by his own fault but just because it had been the last thing on everyone's minds. All three of them had woken up with no appreciate, apart from the warm beverages Danny had prepared - they were running on empty.

If there was one thing Danny knew - it was comfort food with little resources. Like any student she'd had to scrimp and scrape together most of the time, she may not have been a wiz at the actually cooking part - but she knew what went well with what.

The fridge had been pretty bare but the freezer and cupboards had been the saving Grace this evening. Danny managed to throw together some chicken broth with soggy onions and diced carrots, frozen chicken thigh for meat with spice and herbs to taste. It wasn't going to be great, but it was far better then nothing at all. Even if they all picked at it.

Still something rather then nothing at all.

She threw in the last of the vegetables and placed a lid on the pot, it was a size or two too big but what did that matter. Danny had been washing her hands when she felt Ben's presence at her back, she'd smelt him as soon as he'd rounded down the stairs, she knew the exact sound of his footsteps by now too.

The girl felt him press his nose into her hair, a content noise leaving his chest as she pressed back into him.

Danny wasn't dense. She knew when something was in the air, and she knew she'd interrupted something between the boys this morning. That's why she'd tried to keep her distance since, she felt shitty for bothering them while they were talking. She knew how hard it was for Ben to talk, she couldn't imagine Vic was much different.

"You okay?" She asked, her voice still quiet and drawn back. She couldn't help it.

Ben grumbled, burying his face into her neck before muttering simply under his breath. "Smells good."

She smiled at that. "The food or me?" She teased.

Another sound rumbled at her back, vibrating through Ben's tough skin and muscle. "Both."

Danny noticed his addition of clothes now, no more half-naked trips to garden for Ben Solo tonight.

She turned in his arms and he let her do so, crushing her back into his body when she was facing him. 

She welcomed him, how couldn't she, she needed Ben to ground her if nothing else would.

The girl tried her best to synchronise her breathing with Ben's, something - anything to focus on other then his voice.

"I promise you it'll get easier." Ben's voice was soft yet it still took her off guard.

Danny retracted her face from his chest to look up at him, asking a question but knowing she'd have to voice it. "What will?" She asked.

He didn't let his gaze fall from hers for even a second. "Everything."

She understood him, at least - part of her did.

Everything was still so raw to process, it was like her body and her mind were running at entirely different intervals. As exhausted and drained her body felt, her mind simply wouldn't let her rest, not even for a second. She didn't know what the future held.

Not for her, not for Ben and Vicrul, not for her friends - and not for Ushar.

Danny had come to terms with Jake's death months ago, it wasn't hard to hate him, it was hard to pretend that she knew nothing of his appearance.

For weeks after his death she'd been kept awake at night with thoughts and questions, what if his father found out? What would happen if she told someone and they told the police? What would happen to Paige now? Would Ben go to prison?

She questioned it all before Ben put her mind at ease. He was wrong for using his body and lips to distract her back then, but there was no denying,

it worked.

This was entirely different. She knew Armitage a lot less intimately then she'd been forced to know Jake, for over a year she'd been subjected to his unwanted advances and for a year she'd had to keep her mouth shut. Look where that got her.

Armitage Hux was a different kettle of fish in that manor, he never tried to know Danny, maybe that was for the best, maybe he knew what would happen. He showed his clear lack of interest in her, he didn't wish to become familiar with her, and now she knew exactly why.

"Whatever happens, I want you to promise me something." Danny squeezed Ben tighter.

He gave her his full attention, a big brute hand reaching to the back of her head to stroke through her hair there. It had air dried, now disheveled and wispy from where it had been allowed to stay free.

"Anything." Ben Solo had never been one for promises, but he wished he could start now.

"I want you to promise me that you'll be okay,

that you'll come back to me."

His eyes widened, just slightly, she clearly didn't know what she was asking. But Ben couldn't expect her to know, whichever way they went into this - they weren't all coming out alive.

He swallowed the knot in his throat. "I promise."

In that moment, the two of them stayed silent.

Just breathing each other in, memorising everything they could about each other. Having Ben there, under her fingertips, she wished he'd never go - that the two of them could stay huddled together till the end of time. This world of his that she'd walked into, Danny wouldn't change it, she was lucky to ever know Ben - she only wished that they could change things now. She wanted him to walk away from his life, but she was selfish to want that - as much as she didn't understand, she knew he wasn't able to simply get up and leave it all behind.

Ben and Danny had no idea their moment hadn't been private, just beyond the kitchen - around the corner just at the bottom of the staircase...

Vicrul was stood, his big hand gripping the banister so hard he could have splintered the wood.

As soon as their words found his ears, he made up his mind, he wouldn't tell Ben - but he knew what he had to do.

Vic allowed his mask to slip back into place, gathering himself as he stepped down the last few stairs left at the bottom. He purposely made himself known now, letting his footsteps ring out loudly against the floor so that both Danny and Ben knew he was close.

They didn't disband when they heard him round the corner, the two of them met his eye instead, Danny's smile was truthful - a genuine familiarity in the way she looked at him.

He loved that about her, how she didn't hide how she felt. As much as she loved Ben, he knew that he must have held some place in her heart too.

The way she had comforted him last night, held him, cried with him. That was true friendship.

Ben was the first to pull away. He kept his hand at the back of Danny's head to gently pull her towards his lips, pressing a kiss gently to her forehead.

She closed her eyes as she smiled, savouring the more subdued side of Ben. He stepped around her, moving off closer into the kitchen as he headed to his whiskey cabinet.

Danny turned her attention back to Vicrul but he was already close to her, a look she didn't recognise painted into his features. His eyes looked raw and his smile was slightly uneven, it didn't make Danny feel at ease at all.

She tried her best to maintain her smile, of course it wasn't wide or face splitting, she just wanted to make herself seem stronger.

"Can I have a word?" Vic held her gaze, a pleading look in his eyes as he spoke lowly.

The girl involuntarily looked towards Ben, he was halfway through pouring himself a glass of bourbon when he glanced at her out the side of his peripherals - a look in his eyes that showed he approved.

Danny matched Vicrul's gaze again, seeing that same look in his eyes as before. "Sure." She said.

The German walked straight past her, craning his neck towards her when she stayed still and didn't move, he didn't speak again but simply jerked his head in the direction he was walking - signalling for her to follow him. Danny followed him without another word, and she knew where he was headed towards. Ben's gym was lower set in the house, a space that was meant to be used as a garage instead used as a place for him to workout instead.

Through the kitchen there was a door that led directly down to it, a handful of steps that opened up into a makeshift gym.

Countless times she'd followed Ben down there, sketch book in hand with the intention of just being within the same radius as him. He never minded. She didn't speak or bother him, she'd just sit herself on the shitty and creaky little bench that was sat against the wall - and she'd draw.

Danny would draw him. The girl hadn't made it obvious, she'd never even told him. Danny had been at work while Ben was home one day, he'd been tidying up and titivating the house when he'd found the sketch book, opened on a certain page and spattered with charcoal covered fingerprints and smudges. Amongst the delicate shading and thick smudges, was a sketch of Ben. Stood shirtless, wrapping his fist and knuckles in tape.

It was rare that Ben ever saw himself, he didn't take pictures or look in the mirror, very much on purpose. Although he took pride in his fitness, he didn't wish to study the scars that were laid into his skin - because that was all he saw. Somehow Danny had made him look different, she hadn't drawn him posed in a defensive stance or throwing his weight into a punch. He was just stood there, domestically fixing the tape on his hands. That was the beauty in it, she didn't need to paint him in a light that highlighted his strength or brutishness. She saw him differently then that.

Danny shut the door behind her as she stood at the top of the steps, hearing Vicrul's footsteps draw further and further away into the room.

So many thoughts were ringing through her mind, she had her own questions to ask, her own things to say, but she wanted him to speak first.

As the girl came down the steps, her eyes were immediately drawn to the German. He wasn't facing her as he began to remove his shirt, inch upon inch of his muscled-ink covered skin was uncovered.

His tattoos were something to behold, but their reason for being there was made clearly evident when he stepped forward and caught the light.

In that flash of realisation, Danny felt like she was seeing Kylo all over again. The scars covering the plains of his skin, they were knitted together, blotted over one another. Scar after scar just layered onto his skin, it made her heart ache. It pulled something within her, but she knew he hadn't bought her down here for that. Vicrul was so much like Ben, he didn't seek out pity.

Danny bit her tongue to keep her gasp in her throat, her body itched to go to him, to hug him - but she stayed still. Beyond her better judgment.

She watched Vicrul walk away from her, discarding his shirt on the bench as he retrieved some wraps from the same place. Danny recognised the clothes as Ben's, it wasn't strange how well they fit, as if they were both carved from the same Grecian stone.

"Do you remember what I told you once, about Ben?" His voice was steady, incredibly even given his current life status.

She froze as soon as the last word left his tongue. That name, she hadn't told him, so Ben must have told Vic himself - unless this was a trick.

Danny quickly ruled out that theory, surely he had no more effort left from tricks.

It was almost like he could sense her hesitation, it drew his attention over towards her. Vicrul watched her as he continued to wrap up his knuckles with expert precision despite his direct attention on it.

He saw how drawn back her posture was, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Not until everything clicked.

The man sighed heavily. "I heard you call his name this morning, don't worry about it Kitten."

She still didn't ease up. "Was he angry?" Danny looked away, sheepishly brushing over one of her arms with the opposite hand.

Vicrul focused his attention back to begin wrapping his other hand. "No." He said.

Danny stared down at her feet, fuzzy socks and all against the cold concrete floor. She didn't know how she felt, but she knew part of it was emptiness.

She had always felt that, Ben just helped it seem more and more distant the more he was around.

"I remember you telling me he doesn't talk." She said, breaking her silence. "You said that you and him were different and that he needed someone to show him he was more then just his past."

She remembered it all. Like it was yesterday.

Vicrul picked her up and promised to take her home, but he didn't. He took her to practically the edge of nowhere, he got her talking - Vic got her vulnerable.

The two of them stared out onto the horizon from the hill, both unknowing of just how much each of them would impact each other's lives.

Danny told Vicrul that she could see Kylo's sadness, she tasted it on his tongue the night of his birthday. When he'd finally lifted her blindfold - he'd removed his own mask too. His eyes had been so dark back then, burnt charcoal irises devoid of anything but guilt and sorrow. If only she knew then what she knew now.

Danny continued, craning her neck so she met Vic's eye. "I don't see how you're different." As she watched the German's entire body stiffen, Danny knew she'd said the wrong thing, she hadn't meant for her tone to come out so brash.

He sighed heavily again. "We are different. He had parents, I didn't." As he spoke, Vicrul moved further back into the gym space, scouting out the punching bag hanging from the ceiling just a few feet away.

There it was again, that emptiness, creeping back in. It made Danny's stomach lurch, just the mention of parents to her was like a knife to the chest.

Ben had only spoken once about his home life as a child, the details were shoddy and for good enough reason he didn't stay on the subject - but that didn't make her heartache any less. Her life organ ached for Vic too, she could see him now, young and lost and so scared - little Kaiser.

The sound of his fist hitting the taught leather punching bag made her jump, her skin prickling as her eyes refocused. She wouldn't hold her tongue now, she was sick of doing that. He needed this.

"Will you-" she began. "Will you tell me about it?"

Again the man's body lurched, and not from the force of his punches. He didn't bring her down here for that.

Danny could see the visual hesitation in the way his shoulders tensed, but she knew he needed this.

"There's nothing to tell." He lied, throwing a punch so hard it made Danny wince.

He blinked back the pain. Shielding the tears from escaping, he was a man - and men didn't cry.

Vic's vision was clouded and he only felt himself slip further and further, he locked his jaw, teeth clenching so hard he could splinter them.

Then she was there - her hand placed on his forearm, grounding him. As soon as he felt her fingertips on his skin, the jigsaw piece fell into place. For so long, he kept it to himself, he'd never even troubled Ben with the true horrors of his past -

Ben had to literally beat just the bare minimum out of him, within the first week of the pair meeting he'd put two and two together, drastic but effective.

"Vicrul. Please, you can talk to me." Danny kept her words as soft as she could, but there was no doubt that her own mask was falling - he looked broken.

The man met her eye, and in that moment he knew, he'd never get a chance like this one again.

Vicrul placed his hand over hers, dwarfing it's size as she wrapped her fingers tighter around his arm, trying to comfort him.

"I won't be able to look you in the eye if I tell you."

He spoke with such haste that Danny barely caught it, wether out of embarrassment or nerves - she didn't know, but he was her friend, she'd walked through fire for him.

She didn't say anything, Danny just took her arm away from under his and weaved to walk straight past him. He watched her with his brows furrowed in utter confusion, but as he watched her lower herself to the ground - then he understood.

She was sat with her legs crossed and her back facing him, without even needing to utter a word, Vicrul reluctantly stepped over to join her.

Vic didn't know that she'd held her breath as she listened to his footsteps, bare feet slapping concrete as he walked. Only when she felt his solid back press against hers did she finally release the air in her lungs, his bare skin was so hot against her spine despite her own clothes - he was burning.

If someone had looked at Vicrul from the front, they wouldn't have even seen that Danny was behind him. The width of his meaty shoulders and the height of his torso left the girl comically dwarfed.

He felt her press the back of her head against his shoulder blade, it was strange in the way that her touch was a comfort, maybe he had thought about her in a sexual manor before - but things had changed. He'd been too late to admit it, but his heart belonged to Armitage, he couldn't lie about it anymore. Danny was his friend now before she was anything else, and he was more then happy to have her.

"I never knew my parents, they died in a house fire when I was young." His voice was gentle and quiet.

Danny chose to stay silent and let him speak.

"The only other living relative I had was my uncle, so he took me in but-" he paused. "But he was a fucking monster." The girl heard the crack in his voice, but she still didn't address it, and neither did he.

Danny could feel how his body trembled slightly against hers, she tried to press herself into him, giving him something to push back into as-well -

she would have held his hand if she could reach it.

"It's sad isn't it." He asked rhetorically in a sour tone, "I can't remember my parents, but I remember everything that man did to me, everything he made me do to him." The girl felt as if she could actually hear him grating his teeth, but he didn't stop.

Vicrul scoffed as the memories flooded through him, "Then one day I just- I just snapped. I buried a knife into his fat neck when he was drunk, he'd come into my room to rape me that night, and he never left that room alive again."

His throat tightened. She doesn't need to know that he's alive, she's safe with Ben. He thought to himself.

The weight felt as if it were lifting, for so many years he'd carried this burden, for so many years he'd carried the guilt that came with it. Vicrul had thought he was protecting Armitage and Ben from the truth because he didn't want pity, but Vicrul didn't understand that talking didn't mean he was weak.

On the other side, Danny's eye were filled, glossed irises wet with tears she didn't want to let fall -

no pity and no weakness in-front of Vic, he needed to know that he and Ben were some of the strongest men that she'd ever encountered in her life.

"Then Snoke found me, took me in and fed me.

I met Ben and changed my name, the rest is dirt."

She didn't need him to go into gory detail about the rest of his upbringing. Broken bones, bruised skin and dead bodies. He was just a boy. They all were.

Danny didn't need telling the story of each scar, most of them he'd gotten as discipline, the rest were from the cruel games of warrior Snoke had forced the brothers to fight each other in.

Vic should have told her about Ben's scars, about how most of them didn't belong to him. Vicrul could name each one and tell her the reason behind it, better then some of his own no doubt - because Ben had taken the wrap for him, more then once.

When Snoke smelt weed in the boy's shared room, Ben took the blame and dealt with the repercussions. When the band of brothers got into trouble on the streets for setting dumpsters on fire, Ben took the beating for them.

He was just wired that way. So many times he'd taken the fall for his own mother, had glass shoved into his skin, been scolded with a hot pan, had his fingers trapped purposely in door frames.

Never once did his mother ever step in for him, she was a coward - and Ben swore he would never be like her, or his father for that matter.

There was a moment of silence that Vicrul took before he continued, more likely then not giving her time to digest his words as he recovered from his confession. Yet he didn't feel like stopping, his chest felt lighter already - he needed to do this while he still could.

"Ben tried to kill himself once, few years ago now. Didn't work though."

Danny tried to swat him but from the angle they were sitting at she wasn't able to land a hood it, as terrifying as that thought was - she was glad Vic had made her smile through it. That was the real Vic.

"He's always let his past follow him, as much as he pretends to be okay, I know he's not."

Vicrul carried on talking and Danny carried on listening.

"Most of the boys were like me, didn't have a family or never knew them. Ben was the only one who had parents in his childhood, I think it hurt when he realised that they never even came looking for him."

Except both Armitage and Ushar had parents too...

A knot appeared in Danny's throat again but she managed to hold it together, for Vicrul's sake, she just promised herself to hug Ben even tighter tonight.

"When Snoke was finally dead, Ben went to find them." His voice was low and tentative.

The girl's eyes widened and she couldn't help her lips when they moved.

"Did he find them?" She hushed quickly.

Vicrul didn't skip a beat with his answer.

"They divorced, his mother skipped town and his father was in prison the last time he checked.

Sent down for aggravated assault chargers and for possessing heroin."

It wasn't what Danny wanted to hear, but she knew that no matter what - Ben didn't need them in his life, Vicrul said it himself, they never even came looking for their son.

"They don't know where he is or if he's been alive, he just did it out of spite I think." Vic added.

Danny nodded against his shoulder, still digesting everything she'd just listened to.

"Do you think he'd ever try and do it again, kill himself?" She hated herself for asking, and she didn't think she wanted to know the response - but it was too late.

The man she was leant on scoffed, "I've know him for over a decade Kitten, and I've never seen him as happy as he is with you." His tone shifted, he meant what he was saying. "He'd never leave you."

Not on purpose.

Her heart swelled and she wanted to smile at the thought, but it didn't feel right. Not quite.

"Vic - there's something you need to know."

Now or never, she thought to herself.

Danny felt him stiffen against her again, he knew what was coming.

"About Armitage?" He asked, his tone startlingly even.

The girl swallowed. "He loved you." A breath.

"He didn't want you to think he hated you, he never hated you." Danny felt as if she weren't speaking at all, her voice didn't register in her own ears.

She held her breath, waiting for him to say something - anything.

Then he leant backwards into her, his head how resting on her shoulder so his lips were close to her ear. He just whispered, "I know." There was no sadness in his voice, but understanding. It had been mutual, love that strong couldn't be one sided,

Hux had been Vicrul's soulmate - no doing about it.

Danny smiled and for the first time that day, it hadn't been false or fake. It was genuine.

The two of them continued leaning into each other for a while longer, settled and content. Like a weight had indeed been lifted away, even if the feeling didn't last. They both needed it. Vicrul's eyes were closed, picturing Armitage's face like he did in his dreams. He wanted the image of a cold and bloodied Hux to burn away from his mind, he swore that when he thought of his lover - he'd only over picture him from his earlier memories. When he woke up in a morning and found the ginger's face still sloped in a deep sleep or when he was unaware that anyone was watching him as he typed away on his laptop. The small domesticated memories that stuck with him through everything.

Danny was staring at the ceiling, still digesting everything with thoughts reeling through her mind. She still had questions, but it wasn't her place to ask

Little did either of them know - up the handful of steps, behind the closed door...Ben was sat there. His back to the door as he had listened to them talk, hearing everything. About Vicrul's past and his own.

It was a hard burden to bare, but Ben wouldn't change a thing about the outcomes of their lives.


	24. 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈𝚆𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴𝚆𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴

It didn't turn out at all like he'd planned. None of it.

The man felt the blood drip from his split knuckles, shards of splintered glass still sitting in his skin.

He clenched his fist so the glass dug even deeper,

a punishment...or was it a reward?

He didn't know, he didn't know anything anymore.

His sunflower coloured eyes were practically glowing under the fitful light that was flickering a few feet above his head, given his current circumstances,

he could barely stay in one place for more then a night or two - his conditions weren't exactly liveable.

He imagined dogs lived better, but he was far worse then any mutt out there.

Kenjiro stood up abruptly and stalked off towards the window, the room he was squatting in was relatively putrid - but that hardly mattered anymore.

Drops of blood followed him across the short length of the one room apartment, glass crunching under his feet as he went too.

Killing Armitage hadn't been his motive, not originally, but either way it was supposed to make him feel better. For so many years Ushar had been forced to live in their shadow...Kylo and Hux.

Ren had been the muscle and the brawn while Armitage had been the brains of it all, both of them sat snug under Snoke's thumb while the rest of them were fed the mere scraps of his attention.

The man grit his teeth, his anger coming to a boil once again. He felt worse then before, Hux's death hadn't solved anything, it hadn't made his mind any clearer. If anything - it only made his next moves all the more impossible to gage.

He could feel the grease layering his hair and the dirt woven into his clothes, becoming a monster only meant he was forced to live like one.

Kylo and Vicrul were no different, more likely having done even worse then Ushar himself. Yet they lived like kings, houses on high hills and apartments on famous roads. What a joke. While they were eating steak and fucking their way through their adolescent years, Kenjiro had been a runaway - a rouge.

He'd left the First Order with the knowledge that he could never go back, not alive. Now he would be forced to survive by himself, his old reputation unable to succeed him this time around unlike back in Japan.

As his thoughts began to swallow him, Ushar's phone began to ring in his pocket. As soon as he held it in his hand, the name on the screen made his heart bleed - the only contact he had saved...

Logan Trudge ... aka 'Trudgen'

Kenjiro had taken a handful of painkillers a few hours ago to try and quiet the voices in his head,

he thought his ears were playing tricks on him when the call finally died away - only for it to ring again.

He didn't hesitate this time, maybe it would be nice to hear his voice again after all these years. Ushar pressed the phone to his ear, itching for the line to finally connect. He heard his own breath in his ears and felt the blood still flooding through his clenched fist, but he chose to ignore it.

The receiver bleeped and finally - finally the other man's voice rang through.

"Is it true?" He said calmly.

Not even a 'hello' or a 'how are you?' 

Kenjiro knew who he meant, and it pissed him off to no end. After all this time, after all these years.

Despite his anger and despite what his mind wanted to say, Ushar knew he couldn't bullshit Logan.

He'd never been able to pull the wool over his eyes, even when they were younger.

Shame enveloped him as he stood by the window, eyes trained to the back alley street he could see below him. Dark and dirty.

"I didn't mean for that to happen." Somehow, the man managed to keep his tone even as he lied.

There was a pause. "Somehow I don't believe you."

Ushar and Trudgen had been the self made outcasts out of all the brothers back when they were younger. While Kenjiro was scarred and damaged from his past, Logan had instead been just old enough to look after himself. His childhood had been one of the kindest out of all of them, much like Armitage.

He had a family once but was left orphaned, he'd managed through his childhood with petty thefts and clueless crimes. Unfortunately, Snoke found him somewhere along the way. Logan had tried to steal Snoke's watch while he distracted him with a magic trick, Trudgen's usual spot on a corner in Times Square had made him a good penny or two, he tricked tourists and unsuspecting civilians with his neat little tricks - little did they know they were being robbed blind by a ten year old.

Snoke gave him little to no choice, but Logan saw no point in trying to run away, much like a young Ben Solo - he just wanted a hot meal and a warm bed.

Ushar grit his teeth. "I was after someone else."

The man opened his palm, turning it over to study the bloodied mess of skin and glass that laid there.

"But I think you already knew that, didn't you."

The silence on the other end of the phone only confirmed it, while Kenjiro had run away and left the First Order behind, Logan hadn't.

Trudgen sighed through the receiver and Ushar could practically hear him run his hand over his face in frustration. "The details were sparse but that doesn't change anything, you still went for his girl."

Kenjiro opened his mouth but he was beaten to it, silenced by the drawl of his older brother's voice.

"As much as you hate Ren, I can't help you justify what you did and what you tried to do, she has nothing to do with any of this, any of us.

She's just Ren's girl and nothing more, you promised me you'd at least stop it with women and kids."

It was strange, Logan didn't sound angry, but he didn't sound best pleased either. He'd always been that way, since the first day he'd been bought to the compound by Snoke. The rest of the boys thought he was mute or at least deaf at first, he didn't speak or acknowledge anyone - it just turned out he liked his own company more then kids closer to his own age. Logan had continued to grow up that way too, he barely interacted with anyone, except for Kenjiro.

Wether it was guilt or spite, it wasn't really clear. He'd watched from the sidelines how much Ushar had idolised Kylo, only to have him take a stronger liking towards Vicrul instead. Time and time again Ushar tried to move himself into the spotlight, but nothing ever came of it. One day Logan made a decision, a decision he now regretted, he gave Ushar the attention he needed and craved so much.

The two of them were nothing like how Kylo and Vicrul were, not even close. Logan merely kept an eye on Kenjiro, keeping him out of too much trouble or giving him a heads up when Snoke was coming his way. Trudgen didn't feel obligated to take Ushar under his wing, he owed nobody nothing. It was only when Kenjiro fled that Logan felt the need to do something about it, he tried to reach out - so many times. Each time he was met with silence, until finally; he wasn't.

The brooding post-teen Ushar had reached out through a dodgy and doctored email, letting Logan know he was at least alive and more or less on his feet. That had been enough to settle Logan's conscience, but now, Ushar was growing more and more bold in his actions.

First it was the images of Vicrul's uncle, then the way he attacked Kylo and went after his girl...

\- now he'd murdered Armitage Hux.

Logan Trudge would live by the fact that he didn't owe anything to anybody, he liked that no one had anything they could hold over his head. That didn't mean that he was a bad person, through the years of Kenjiro going rouge he ensured that he kept contact, not so he could feed it back to the First Order; but so he could make sure his friend was okay. Maybe that's what they were...friends - maybe they weren't.

Just two men that had the misfortune to live and grow up together.

Kenjiro Ushar killed and maimed his way through the years, unlike Kylo, Vicrul and the rest of the brothers, Ushar did it purely for the money.

The First Order might have technically been a band of Assassins working through the underground and black market, but they didn't kill without good reason to.

The men and women they killed were just as bad as the brothers were; monsters, murderers, rapists, pedophiles - anything to be named. They were.

That fact was never meant to make them all sleep better, they were still killers at the end of the day, but it made their way of life worth it. To know they were cleaning up the scum that walked the Earth, saving more victims as the days bled on.

Ushar killed and murdered if the pay-check was big enough, he didn't do background checks, he didn't care to get his facts straight.

He cared about the money. That's what made him different to his brothers, forever an outsider.

Kenjiro licked his lips, "She has everything to do with this for as long as she continues to fuck Ren."

He sounded sour, nothing but pure hatred when he spoke Ben's gifted name.

The man on the other end of the phone stayed silent, Ushar had to retract it from his ear for a moment to check the other man was still on the other side.

He didn't know what he expected, it had been so long since Logan had even tried to contact him -

so why bother now? Was this Ren's doing?

It wasn't as if he thought Trudgen was on his side; because he knew he wasn't. He'd always been a third party, he never weighed in on anything and rarely expressed his opinion verbally - he was a self made loner and he didn't mind that, even if he stayed with the First Order, that didn't mean he cared enough to put his own neck on the line for the sake of his brothers. He and Kylo had never seen eye to eye, there was barely even a year between them, and yet - they couldn't have been anymore different.

There had been an unspoken agreement between the two of them, they just stayed out of each other's way - barely ever spoke a word to one another despite knowing each other for well over a decade.

After what felt like hours - Trudgen spoke again.

"I can't help you. But I think you already knew that, didn't you?" His voice was like cold brimstone.

Logan wasn't lying, he couldn't help Kenjiro.

All of the brothers took the same oath and only one of them had broken it - Ushar.

If Trudgen helped him now, that would make him just as bad, it may as well have been him who'd shot Armitage.

"Why did you call me?" Ushar's temper was so close to breaking, he didn't care for this anymore.

"So I can find you."

/

The water running down the back of Ben's neck made him shiver, his whole body mewling as he felt each warm drop run down the wide plains of his back. "Is it your turn yet?" He all but growled.

The man tried to crane his neck backwards over his shoulder but his cheek was kept at bay by a soft little palm - His little Kitten.

Water sloshed around the their bodies as Dannyattempted to keep Ben from turning around fully,

his bath barely fit the two of them in as it was without him spilling water all over the floor.

"Not yet!" She squealed, "I'm not done."

The girl didn't back down, she pushed his face away and poked his spine so he was forced to sit up straighter - it made Ben smirk. There she is, he thought to himself.

Danny shimmied herself forward gently so she was even closer to him, she ran her hands from his tailbone all the way up his spine towards his shoulders, running her nails up his neck and forwards so she could cup either side of his jaw.

It stirred a low noise in Ben's chest, but he didn't try and keep it hidden. Without stilling, Danny used her hands to tip Ben's head back, his eyes now facing the ceiling. "I missed some suds." She gifted, an unknowing smile on her lips. His chest rumbled again, "I bet."

It had been just over a week since they'd lost Armitage, despite the rawness of his death disappearing, the guilt never edged itself away for Danny. It lingered - merely there to taunt her.

Within a few days Vicrul had managed to integrate his way back into his own apartment, he kept himself stood tall as Ben walked him through the door, both their eyes instantly drawn to pieces of Hux that would forever be left behind.

His reading glasses on the kitchen island, his leather driving gloves laid on the shoe rack by the door...

His fucking cat. That fluffy orange thing had been left alone for days, bless it's poor little heart.

Millicent had never liked Vic, hissed every time he went near her, so the German was more then surprised when she came right to him, rubbing her whiskers into the side of his leg and wrapping her tail around his ankle. He didn't know what made him do it, he didn't really register doing it, but he picked her up without a moments hesitation.

Poor girl was probably confused, she would go wherever Hux went, she didn't live at the German's full time - she just slept over when he did.

The way she nestled her face into Vic's neck made him stand as still as board, he was sure at any second she'd find the right moment to sink her teeth into his jugular - but she never did.

Ben almost felt like he was imposing as he watched his friend stand there, cooing and whispering to this little cat as if she would soon talk back to him.

He knew exactly what that cat meant to Armitage, now he knew exactly what she'd mean to Vicrul.

Danny's fingers were like magic against Ben's scalp, massaging and rubbing till he purred. As much as he spoilt her, she never let him be left out either.

Although he wouldn't take her kindness in the form of money or material, he'd happily let her wash his hair till the day he died, he was certain she enjoyed it more then he did.

"I was thinking about going to see Paige tomorrow."

Her voice was gentle, tedious even, like she expected him to shoot down the idea. It made him open his eyes, but Ben didn't let the rest of his body react.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Her fingers stilled in his scalp as he spoke, she knew his words had more then one meaning - she just didn't want to think about it too much. Danny's fingers began working the soap through his hair once more, "I've been cooped up in this house long enough, you have too, we can only avoid the outside for so long."

The girl wanted to say more, she wanted so badly to tell Ben how terrified she really was, how even the sheer thought of driving across the city alone made her stomach flip and her fingers itch. It had been hard watching Ben and Vicrul leave her for the first time since everything happened, it felt strange being in Ben's big home all alone. As much as she wanted to join them, they hadn't given her that option.

The two men didn't know what they'd be walking into when they got back to Vic's place, neither of them were about to put Danny in the way of the crossfire again. In hindsight - she was grateful that they were looking out for her, but that didn't mean she would be happy spending the rest of her days trapped inside - she'd go insane.

"I'm sorry I've kept you here for so long, I didn't plan to, it's just- we haven't heard or seen him since Hux." Water licked up the sides of the tub and sloshed over the edges as Ben turned around, having to awkwardly tuck and untuck his legs so he could sit facing Danny. His tone was sincere, because he really was telling the truth, keeping her locked away like Rapunzel had been the last thing he wanted to do - but he wasn't about to risk her safety for her happiness.

Danny understood - of course she did. This man could do or say anything and she was sure she'd still stand by, just look at what they'd already been through together. She knew that he wouldn't keep her inside for the fun of it, but Ben had never been this scared before, she could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. He was scared of what Ushar would take away next, be it Kitten or someone else.

"Come with me." She said as she gazed at him through damp lashes, her hair was soddened and stuck to her neck and face - but neither of them cared. The two of them were as naked as they day they were born, flushed pink and wet through - simply basking in the company of one another, washing each other's hair and working silk soap into each other's skin. Just existing together.

The idea of having Ben come with her wasn't that far fetched, although it hadn't been said - Danny was certain that the two of them were an item now,

it had just seemed too weird to put a boyfriend-girlfriend label on things.

Ben held her stare. "You want me to go see Paige with you?" The way his face contorted in confusion made Danny rethink, didn't he want to go?

The girl fiddled with her fingers, noting how wrinkled and pruned they were getting.

"I'd like you to meet her." A wave of second hand embarrassment washed over her, it was stupid really when she thought about it, but she didn't have parents for Ben to meet - Paige was the next best thing. Danny tried to catch herself, taking back her request before she could rethink it all.

"You don't have to, really, it was dumb of me to say-"

Ben interjected however, "No, I want to go."

The two of them had been together so long now, how had Paige not met him sooner then this?

After everything that happened with Paige and Jake, Ben had never gotten the chance to meet her.

Vicrul knew of her because of his ties with the dingy strip club he met Danny at, the German was also the one unfortunate enough to find Paige...and Jake.

Ben didn't really know the ins and outs of that night, it had been a strange blur to him. The first he knew of the situation was when Vic dragged in an already beaten, bloodied and bruised Jake into his home.

It was only after the two of them had gotten more hits in that the German broke, letting out his anger as he revealed the truth to Ben. Still he hadn't ever met Paige, but no one deserved that kind of treatment, especially from a person who was supposed to be the one protecting them from that. 

After Jake was already dead and Danny had been drugged was when Vicrul finally sat down, spilling everything to Ben about what he'd discovered.

He hadn't known what was best to do, he couldn't really drop her off at a hospital, her home was too far away for him to drive her with a live person stuffed in the truck of his car and he couldn't exactly bring her with him either. The German consoled the girl as best he could, promising her he knew Danny and that all he wanted to do was help - she'd been reluctant but there was no doubt that she recognised him from the first night he'd met Danny too.

He ended up driving her to a women's help centre,

a place that had all kinds of facilities and specialised help. Vicrul wasn't about to push her into a police station, she could do that when she was ready or if she even wanted to; but he was adamant that she got the proper checks she needed, for her own sake.

Despite everything she'd endured that night; getting sexually assaulted, watching as her attacker was beaten within an inch of his life, getting pushed into a somewhat strangers car with the promise of being taken to safety - Paige never let her face fall once.

She had an almost expressionless look on her face, a blank slate of grey etched into her features.

As Vicrul helped her out of his car, she looked him in the eye, seeing deep beneath his shelled surface.

Paige simply asked him his name, gifted her own in return and then thanked him. She disappeared with a limp up the dimly lit staircase that led towards the doors of the charity house, that same expressionless look painting her face as she turned back once more to check he was still there.

Vicrul didn't leave until he saw her get inside safely, it was a man and a woman that ushered her inside with pleading eyes and strained smiles.

Paige was dirty and bruised, her night a clear picture painted in their minds as soon as they laid eyes on her. The man was around average height with fair hair and a young face, he looked far too young to be in that job - but Vic couldn't judge. He didn't miss the look that the young man gave him however, it was quizzical and analysing, as if he were trying to decipher the relationship between Paige and himself.

Had he been the one to do that to her? Did he know who had done it? Who knew?...only Vicrul.

Ben hated that he kept it all from Danny, she'd seen Jake in such a state and panicked, had she known what he'd done beforehand - her mind would have surely been changed. Things were different now, in Danny's mind, the situation with Jake was in the past, it had been so fresh when it happened all those months ago - now it felt like a bad dream.

Something much darker was looming over the two of them now, Armitage was gone, but it was supposed to have been Danny. Yet she didn't know that, she had no idea that Ushar had every intention of killing her that night - his mouth let itself run but he was simply teasing her, warming her up before sinking his cuspids through her skin.

Ben now had a black cloud following him, it was full of dread and guilt. He knew he needed to keep her safe, and he knew he needed to avenge his friend - but how could he do both at the same time?

"You really want to meet her?" Danny asked, a glow flittering in her eyes that Ben hadn't seen in over a week. He loved how the littlest things peaked her. 

Ben somehow managed to scoot himself even closer to her, water splashing as he moved to take one of her hands in his, he laced their pruned fingers together and squeezed her hand tightly in his.

"You're running out of things to tell me about her." He gifted, a slight tug on the right side of his lips.

The girl rolled her eyes playfully, "Trust me, there's a lot you don't even want to know." That thought made her smile, the endless nights of chasing after her friend, either drunk or high - but endlessly happy. The friend that would flirt with anything that had a pulse, the girl that had no shame in her body or her size, the friend that would light up a room when she entered...the girl that had been the very first person to show Danny what it meant to be happy. Ben had shown her what it meant to be loved and what it meant to be adored, but Paige had been the one to show her what she was worth on her own. Paige had told her endlessly how proud she was of her, she told Danny that no matter where or what she ended up doing, that it only mattered as long as she was happy. Danny wanted to make her proud.

Ben noted how Danny's face shifted slightly, remembering something from her past.

She didn't look sad or afraid, she looked like - like she was reminiscing. She had been a student not too long ago, she'd worked at a strip club and lived the lifestyle. Danny might not have directly participated in it, but he knew those type of girls.

The drugs and the bar crawls, the late night bed hopping and dollar chasing. Most of them the same.

Just not his Danny. From what he'd heard, Paige was a party animal and a fairly promiscuous girl, but on her own accord - she didn't have sex for money or drugs like the other girls did.

"We'll set off early in the morning if you want, pick her up and take her somewhere nice."

Ben had pulled Danny into him as he spoke, her little body gliding against his with no effort wasted.

He had her where he wanted her, sat astride his lap with her chest pressed just a hairs-breath from his.

He'd husked his words, a low tone that had her spine trembling as the cooling water ran down it's curve.

Danny held his eye, "She'd really like that." Her gaze shifted from his lips to his eyes in turn, the urge to taste him growing into a need. Ben sated that need, cocking his head ever so slightly so he could perfectly catch her lips in his, it was so gentle and slow. A tender kiss that didn't shift into clashing tongues and stolen breaths. The slower they kissed, the more seductive it became, like they were swallowed by it.

Ben held onto her tightly, one big hand hooking her thigh while the other was pressing into the back of her neck, edging and turning her head so he could taste her lips that much better.

Danny gripped onto him too, her thighs were clamped around his hips and she fought the urge to dig her nails through the skin of his shoulders and back. It was only a matter of time, with just the two of them alone in the house again, it had been inevitable the way that they would come together again. The two of them tried to forget the circumstances, they were still grieving, but they needed each other to a point where it hurt.

The two ached for each other, they were able to have that release, all that pent up sadness and aggression had a outlet - it had just been a matter of time.

His cock was growing hard, trapped between their bodies as Danny unknowingly shifted her hips against his, it was muscle memory at this point, her own body knowing what they needed before she could even think about it. The friction beneath the waters surface caused Ben to hiss, his teeth catching Danny's lip as a low sound rumbled through his throat. She could feel a coil tightening in her abdomen, that burning ache rising to her tummy.

As inconvenient as it was, they both knew they weren't making it to the bed for this tonight.

It was only when Danny began to knowingly rock herself against the length of his dick that Ben dropped his head, his teeth easily finding one of the many spots that got her melting. He traced his tongue over her nipples and up her throat, not missing even an inch of skin on his way up or down. He'd not marked her for so long, he'd make use of his opportunity now.

She moaned when his teeth grazed and pinched her skin, her body arching further into him as her nails raked over his shoulders. "Oh god!" She yelped.

Neither of them could wait, but Ben was particularly het up. The tension was rolling through his shoulders and back, so tight tendons could snap, Danny could feel it all flexing beneath her fingertips.

His lips continued their mapping of her skin and throat, pecking kisses to her neck and jaw as his hand fell from the back of her neck, delving under the water as he took his own cock to hand.

He didn't feel like teasing, he needed her so bad, but he wasn't that cruel anymore. Ben's patience was rewarded in the way Danny's noises projected around the echoing bathroom, her mewls and moans finding his ears and jutting off the walls as he brushed the head of his cock between her folds.

Her fingers felt like they were piercing his flesh, but he didn't stop, he ran his dick over the hood of her clit and through her cunt - the urge to spear home itching away at his damp skin.

"So pretty Kitten." He whispered into her neck, her breath fanning at his ear as she hunched forward into him. They hadn't touched each other for what felt like so long, she wanted to memorise his skin and voice and touch all over again.

Danny's lungs were struggling as her ribcage fought to expand past it's limits, her nails were clawing at his back as her body shuddered, she could feel the way his cock throbbed as he teased himself through the flesh of her cunt - her pussy was aching for him.

"Please Ben-" she moaned, "I need you."

The man wasn't about to argue. He smirked and practically bit through his own bottom lip as he eased himself into her, her cunt stretching around his dick with effort. Ben was pleased with the sounds Danny gifted him, most of them so hoarse it made the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end.

She didn't fight the urge to rock into him, she was on top and she made it known. The initial sting of having Ben back inside her melted away quickly, the pleasure overlapping the pain. Danny's thigh burned as she struggled to rise to her knees, sinking herself back down onto him again as he stuttered his hips upwards.

It was sloppy and desperate now, their pelvises out of rhythm and their lips missing each other's skin as they urged themselves closer. Ben hugged her as tightly to himself as he could, and she did the same.

Water was slipping and sloshing over the lip of the bathtub, splashing to the floor with a wave of sound that intermixed with their moans and praises of one another. "Fuck." Ben hissed when Danny caught the hair at the back of his head, pulling it back so she could see his face clearly. She gave him no time to close the space, she did it herself, pressing her lips into his like she was starving. Maybe they both were.

"I'm so close." She whispered against his lips, sharing his breath as his eyes bore through hers.

"Me too." He growled, catching her throat between his teeth and sucking again. He'd pay for that later.

Danny surprised them both when her own hand delved beneath the water, her fingers finding her clit easily as she caused herself to squeak. Ben swore he felt himself grow harder, a boiling urge rolling through his tummy as he watched her touch herself.

The old Danny was gone, the quiet girl who could barely speak over a whisper, the girl who had been too afraid to stand up for herself against Jake,

the girl who worried about living.

She was almost gone. Ben had helped Danny rebirth into someone knew, she held the same values and her heart hadn't changed - but she was wiser now, stronger.

Now she knew it was okay to not be okay, she wouldn't beat herself up anymore or invalidate her own feelings. If she needed to grieve, she could, and if she needed to say something, she could.

Ben bought out the best in her like she had done with him, both of them were bettering themselves - maybe in completely opposite ways, but better all the same in the end.

Ben came first, a deep growl rippling through his chest as his hips stuttered beneath Danny.

He forced her to follow, pushing her own fingers out the way as he pressed his calloused digits against her clit, rubbing furiously as he continued to cum inside her. Danny's voice felt like it had been shredded, her throat dry and hoarse as she barely managed to croak his name. Her fingers lunged to grip the sides of the bathtub, her neck crowding and back arching into Ben's body as he rode her through her orgasm.

Her legs shook around his hips and her skin felt like it was crawling, Danny's toes were curled and her eyes were shot. It all felt so good, too good to be real.

It took a while for the two of them to come down from their high, their lungs and eyes both still struggled even a while after they'd cum.

The water was cooling around them and it sent goosebumps settling across both their bodies, Ben managed to shimmy himself to sit a little straighter, pulling Danny with him so she was laid flat against him with her chest pressed into his.

He pressed his lips into the damp hair at the top of her head, "You did so good, Kitten." He hushed.

Ben brushed his fingers across her face, sweeping the wet hair out of the way that stuck there before cupping her cheek in his palm. Danny didn't need telling what to do next, she craned her neck upwards towards him, letting him catch her lips in his.

Their kisses were tender again, gentle and un-rushed as they basked in the afterglow.

Danny broke away from Ben's lips to speak,

"That was incredible." She breathed, catching his lips once more.

The evening drew to a languid close, a purple sky sitting on the horizon as the night crept in.

Ben and Danny slept well that night, curled into one another, nested together like they were joined.

Armitage's death would always weigh heavy, and neither of them wished to forget about him for as long as they lived, but it was a welcome full nights rest from the tortuous memories and nightmares.

\

It was a warm day, the hazy sun managing to blare through the triple glazed windows of the top floor apartment Vicrul resided in.

Sleep was something that hadn't come for him, his body would try to slip away but his mind never could, constantly ticking over with 'what ifs' and 'if onlys' instead.

The German was glad for his new company, the little ginger tabby followed him everywhere he went now. It was as if she just knew. She was all Vic had left of Hux now, they now only had each other.

His lack of animal care knowledge was made very apparent very quickly, apparently spoiling Millicent with fresh haddock and tinned sardines everyday wasn't an efficient enough diet for a cat. Even when he managed to cook for himself it was merely a form of meat and some vegetables, the meat or fish he couldn't finish going to the tabby too.

The two of them seemed to form an understanding of their new life, he felt utterly stupid for seeking council in a fucking cat, but what other options did he have? He wanted Ben and Danny to continue with their lives, he didn't need them fussing over him.

It might have only been a week since Armitage was lost but the days felt so long and drawn out, day in and day out Vicrul seemed to just do nothing.

He'd try to sleep and maybe attempt to eat occasionally, forcing himself to go for a run if he felt like breaking something or when he felt the grief drilling through his skull again. The rest of his time was spent with Millicent, it was as if she had a sixth sense, no matter where Vic was in the apartment or what he was doing - she'd always appear.

She'd curl up in his lap or nestle herself between the base of his neck and the back of the sofa, always near him no matter what.

She was an awfully quiet cat, even if she wanted to go out onto the balcony or if she was hungry, she barely ever made more then a breath of sound.

Her meow was so quiet too, it took Vicrul a while to grow accustomed to being followed everywhere, more then one occasion over the last few days he'd managed to lock her in places and not hear her cry.

Millicent was perched on the short bookshelf by the balcony window, her golden fur reflected by the light as she slept soundly, curled into herself warmed by the suns rays through the window.

Vicrul had sought her out over an hour ago to feed her, but when he found her sleeping, the man couldn't bring himself to wake her. So he took himself back to the kitchen just a room over, he was hunched over the stone marble island centred in the middle - his hands holding his head.

Vic's eyes were drawn low, focusing on the prints he'd laid out in front of him.

He was yet to wrap his head around the death of his lover, but he'd accepted something else long before the night of Armitage's death.

Vicrul knew it was him who had to put a stop to all this, Ben had done so much for him over the years, it was time for him to return the favour.

The printed photos laid down in front of him were the same photos that had been mysteriously sent to him months prior, he knew exactly who had been behind them now. Vicrul had his suspicions but they were clearly confirmed after everything, the death of Hux being the last piece in the puzzle.

Kenjiro Ushar had been the one to confirm that Vicrul's uncle was still alive, by some unfortunate miracle, he'd survived the attack from his nephew.

As much as it shouldn't, it changed everything for Vic, for years he thought he was free, the weight of his past unable to chase him down. He truly thought his uncle to be dead, and he'd been the one to kill him, for years he'd been subjected to abuse from that man - now it had all been for nothing.

His eyes could have burned through the pictures from how hard he was staring at them, his glare hard and analytic. Nothing added up and he felt as though he couldn't trust his own mind, all those years ago, Vicrul had ensured that his uncle was dead.

He was more then certain that no one could bounce back from the gruesome injuries he'd laid into his uncle's skin, so why had he surfaced now?

If he'd been alive all this time - why now had it only just been bought to his attention?

The German was skeptical, but he had other people in his life worth protecting, he couldn't let his guard down just for the sake of a feeling in his gut.

For as long as he looked, Vic could feel something stir in his tummy, a sickly feeling clawing it's way up his throat. He felt as if he needed to be sick, a wave of nausea rippling through him completely.

Tears stirred behind his lids and he felt his jaw lock tightly, it felt like he was being burned from the inside out - a pain like no other.

He continued to slip, his breathing erratic and lungs heaving as he fought through the anxiety attack that tried to consume him. Then - Millicent was there.

Vicrul felt her nuzzle her face into his ankle as she weaved between his feet, a low purr emanating from her as she moved. It made him stop, just feeling her there, it started to ground him - he was okay.

The man's heart was skipping beats and his lungs still fought to move beneath his tightened ribcage, but just having that little ginger tabby there, he felt better - in a way he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Armitage was always the one to calm him down, to help him through his anxiety and stop him from hurting himself, and how his little Millicent did the same. Vicrul wasn't superstitious by any means, but he felt a connection to Hux's cat, one that he'd never felt when Armitage had been alive.

This wall of tattooed muscle and boiled fury was sent to pure mush at just the quietest mewl from this little cat, he'd sank to his knees to pet her, to run his thumbs over her jowls as she purred softly.

It calmed Vic right down, how comical, he was brutish and crude and awful - yet this little cat didn't mind one bit. "Lovely girl." He whispered, now scratching behind her ear where he'd learned she liked it. "You hungry now?" The man asked her wholeheartedly, fully aware she couldn't really answer him, but her tiny chirrup of approval was a good enough answer for him.

Vicrul got back up and turned on his heel, retrieving the oily fish he'd prepared for Millicent before he'd found her to be sleeping, she chattered and mewled and he stepped across his kitchen - having to be careful he didn't catch her tail from how she weaved between his legs.

The little ginger tabby tucked right in, her whiskers barely skimming the shallow dish the German had used to hold her food. Vicrul sighed heavily, rubbing his fingers over his brow in an attempt to relieve at least some of the tension coiling away under his skin.

It didn't last, the sound of his phone vibrating against the marble island stirred his thoughts elsewhere, he didn't rush to pick it up at all.

He wasn't expecting a call of anyone, but he knew who it'd be. "Morning." He rumbled, knowing he'd hear the same on the other end of the line.

Ben greeted him the same, a low grumble that was hoarse and dry from sleep in his throat.

Vic propped himself on a stool as he switched the phone into his other hand, propping his dominant elbow against the marble so he could rest his head in it. "What can I do you for?" He mocked, the ghost of a smile managing to shift on his lips.

"I wanted to check in on you." Ben said, using a tone that was sincere and strong.

The German thought for a split second, wondering what Ben would want to hear or what would sound best to say, "I haven't necked myself yet, that must be something." He wasn't being totally serious, but Ben didn't appreciated the insinuation.

Vicrul heard Ben grumble through the phone, a sound that came across like disappointment and annoyance. "How's the cat?" Ben asked, a change of subject needed before he decided to reach down the receiver and strangle his brother.

Millicent was licking oil from the dish at this point as Vic cast his eye over to her, that ghost of a smile reappearing. "She's good." He said, meaning it.

Before Ben could say anything again, Vic continued to speak. "How's your Kitten doing today?" He was up on his feet now, clearing away the cat's dish as she washed her face with her little paws.

Ben grumbled again, but Vic knew he'd be smiling.

"She's still sleeping." He said, "we're off to go see her friend today, think it's about time for a change in scenery."

The man wasn't wrong, a change in scenery was long overdue - for the both of them too.

Vicrul paused, "Paige?" He asked in a careful tone. Ben hummed his confirmation, he didn't fancy staying on the subject, it would only annoy them both.

Vicrul began to aimlessly walk through his apartment as he and Ben continued to speak on the phone, it felt weird to sit still and talk on the phone. He rounded the hallway towards his room, looking for something to slip over his chest so he wasn't near enough naked anymore. "You been okay?" Vic asked, fishing a T-shirt from one of his drawers.

Ben was quiet for a few moments, thinking what would be best to say, "I've let the others know about Hux, it felt like the right time."

In reality, there never was going to be a right time, not really. Things would never just start to feel okay again, none of them would simply forget what they'd seen, heard and felt. Not for years to come yet.

"I was thinking about that, you're always one step ahead, hmm?." Vicrul knew he would have to face his demons at some point, given there was so many of them, but he really didn't know what his brothers would have to say about the death of Armitage. They'd only grown to respect him in his later years, they had all literally beat him to a pulp as teenagers, would any of them even care? Who knew.

Ben hummed again, "do you want to come see her?" He asked. Vicrul froze, his bare feet stuck to the carpet, "I think it's best I sit this one out, she doesn't need my face reminding her of what happened." Although he hadn't been the one to hurt her, Vic was sure he'd still be associated with that night, Paige would see his face and remember everything that she wished she could forget. Even if he was wrong, he wasn't willing to chance it and put Danny's friend through that shit again, she didn't deserve it.

"You know where I am if you change your mind, I'll speak to you later, yeah?"

Vicrul couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but something felt off, slightly amiss. Ben was being nice, pleasant in fact, he might have lost someone close to him but even death didn't bring out the nice side in Ben. He was rude and selfish and brash, Danny had been the only thing Vicrul knew of to improve his mood, so why was he being nice now?

"I'm not made of glass, y'know." The German spat, a smirk tugging at his lips. It was funny really, to him anyway, he swore he'd pay to see the say Ben Solo showed any type of manners towards another living human. He heard his friend curse from the other end of the line, "go fuck yourself then." Ben snarled, stomping so loud through his own house that Vicrul could hear it through the speaker of his phone.

"You'll wake her up with all that noise." He teased nearing back towards his living room as he stepped though his apartment.

As if he'd jinxed it, Vicrul did indeed hear Danny wail through the phone receiver, moaning something sleepy and incoherent yet so blatantly full of annoyance directed towards Ben.

The man couldn't help but snicker when he heard her, she really was something special, and she had no fucking idea.

"I'll see you later at some point, call me if you need anything." Ben's voice had shifted a little quieter, more gentle, and Vic didn't miss it.

"See ya later." He breathed, killing the line before Ben had the chance.

Everything was so fucked. Nothing seemed to feel real anymore, it was all just a cluster fuck of numbness that Vicrul felt stabbing cold at his mind.

Like that feeling you get in your arm when you sleep on it funny, instead it's just your entire body.

It wasn't as if he didn't see the point in living anymore, because he did, he still had unfinished business wether he liked it or not. His life just didn't feel the same anymore, it felt empty - Vic could walk away from the First Order with his money and fortune, but that alone didn't feel worth it.

He could live anywhere and anyway he wanted, but what was the point- he had no one to share it with. 

Vicrul was by the window in his apartment, it was tall and wide, let all the good light in as Armitage had always said. He watched the city outside, the cars and the people and the world - how tiny and irrelevant it all was really, none of it mattered.

He only realised he was scowling when he felt Millicent at his feet again, her whiskers immediately eliminating the tension and sourness from his features. The man crouched and settled on one knee, stretching out his fingers toward the little cat so she could arch her spine and tail into his palm.

She was like a little piece of him - Armitage.

They were inseparable and loved each other dearly, Millicent and her ginger counterpart couldn't be far away from each other for very long, wether he were reading a book on the sofa or working away on his laptop, the ginger tabby always sought him out.

Now Vicrul understood, he knew what Hux's connection with this little cat must have been like, and now he would continue to keep her safe.

/

Danny withheld her breath as she stepped out of the car, her fingers tingling and her tongue feeling heavy for her jaw. She was beyond excited to see her friend, but the harsh reality that she couldn't be honest with Paige had already began to set in on the drive out of the city. Somehow Danny had managed to drive her own car rather then have Ben drive the two of them, but that didn't mean she was actually able to focus.

The drive had been quiet, peacefully quiet. More the likely Ben already knew that Danny's mind was turning itself over and over again in her head,

he didn't need to add to that by making idle chat.

He let her think, she was probably feeling all sorts of things, he thought it would be best that she was able to properly prepare herself for facing her friend again.

Ben didn't know the last time Danny and Paige had seen each other. It was safe to say Paige was on her may to mending herself, but she wasn't quite there yet, she was still living back at home and working her way up from there - who could blame her?

Paige's family home was beautiful and warm, but the stone driveway seemed to grow longer and steeper as Danny made her way towards the front door, it felt like the sides of her vision were closing in - but Ben was there to lend a hand, just like always.

"Don't be nervous." He said, "she sounded so excited on the phone." His hand was laid over her shoulder, the rest of his arm keeping her snug to his side as the two of them walked up the stone pathway.

Danny fought to smile, "I'm not nervous."

She chipped, biting the inside of her cheek as Ben's fingers clenched against her. He didn't offer a worded response, he grunted instead, his way of saying 'sure'.

The two of them stepped up onto the porch, batting down their coats and trying to warm their cold fingers from the harsh breeze that whipped around them quickly. Danny stepped forward to knock but her knuckle never met the painted wood, the door swung open with a whoosh sound, standing in the doorway was Paige - looking bright eyed and bushy tailed despite it being early by her body clock.

The ashen blonde had no chance to respond, her shoulders and spine were crushed in a deathly grip as her friends face burrowed into her neck.

"It's been so long!" Paige squealed, hugging her friend tighter and tighter as she spoke. Danny didn't hesitate to squeeze her friend back, she hugged her just as tight - worrying she might break.

"I've missed you so much." Danny muttered, her lips buried in her friend's shoulder as they embraced.

Paige smiled as she pulled back, but it didn't last for long, her eyes met with Ben's from over Danny's shoulder, her blood running cold through her veins.

She did well to hide her fear, but Ben didn't miss the way her face fell, his eyes were far too good.

It went quiet and Danny quickly realised what was happening, she couldn't have stepped in any sooner, "Paige this is Ben, Ben this is Paige. I've told you about each other but that's not quite the same "

her smile was strained, she hoped they got along - and much to her relief, Paige's smile returned as she extended her hand out towards the large man standing at the front of her porch. He sensed her hesitation, but he didn't hesitate to wear a smile himself, placing his hand in Paige's to shake it.

"It's nice to finally meet you." He said gently, purposely not grasping her hand to harshly.

"Right back at ya!" She chimed, her smile strong.

\

Ceramic mugs were growing to be of nuisance to Ben. On what planet were they made so it was impossible for anyone larger then a China doll to be able to hold one? In a galaxy far far way Ben thought.

He sat there trying to look comfortable in the small armchair he'd cramped himself into, tiny teacup in hand as he listened to Danny and Paige chatter and natter till they'd almost run out of things to say.

Paige's mother didn't have anything in the house other then Earl grey or jasmine tea, much to Ben's disgust, but he made do with a strong cup of Earl grey brew. He'd make sure to buy them an espresso machine before his next visit, much better then this shit they were drinking. Of course Danny didn't mind, she loved the floral teas and sweet blends.

Paige leant forward off the sofa she was sharing with Danny, placing down her almost empty mug before she slumped back into the chair again, she was sat with her feet tucked underneath her and her elbow resting against the back of the sofa as she listened to Danny speak, hanging from each and every word.

"What made you want to come and see me?" Paige asked, focusing her eyes solely on Danny's.

It was a fair question, it had been months since her attack and Jake's death, yet Danny had probably seen her twice - if even that. She would never be one to say she was too busy for her friend, she was just busy in general, and living with Ben had sated the warmth and company she sought in her life for the most part. Ben could never replace Paige, but Danny felt an urge within herself, a nagging feeling that perhaps Paige resented her, maybe she blamed her for what Jake did, maybe she wanted nothing to do with Danny at all after everything - so many negative things ran through her head, and she couldn't quiet them. Guilt and fear had kept her away for so long, she was scared that Paige would turn her away, that she would no longer be needed anymore.

She thought long and hard about her response, Danny didn't want it to seem like she was reaching, she just wanted to be honest with her friend.

The ashen blonde cleared her throat. "I wanted to...to air a few things - between you and I."

Danny didn't mean for her voice to sound so cowardly, but it did. She looked Paige directly in the eye after what felt like months, she'd always had such pretty-bright eyes, even on the dullest days.

"I don't understand." Worry was woven into Paige's face, it was clear from the pinch between her brows and the hollow of her cheeks.

Danny averted her gaze, looking at the shaggy rug on the floor. "I don't want you to think I've forgotten about you, you're one of the best things to ever happen to me - and I mean that." As soppy and uncalled for as it was, Danny needed to get something off her chest, even if it wasn't exactly what she wanted to say.

Paige just gave her a quizzical look, her brows furrowing as she calculated her friends words.

"Are you okay?" She asked with a scoff, "don't be so silly, I know you have a life outside of our friendship, and I would never make you feel bad for that." She took ahold of her friend's hand as she spoke, giving it a squeeze to reiterate her point.

Danny squeezed her hand back, the knots of worry un-weaving themselves from where they rested beneath her skin.

Ben observed, sipping the tea he didn't like, sitting quietly as he listened. He wasn't completely oblivious, not in the slightest, so he knew exactly what Danny wanted to say. Although he'd never had true friends that didn't know about his line of work, he could begin to sympathise for Danny because he knew how hard it must be for her to not be able to talk. It wasn't the same when she talked to him, he'd bought her into his world, he knew the details inside and out - Danny needed to talk to someone else, but Ben was smart enough to not let that happen, it would only add a target to Paige's back too.

"You've been too kind to me over the last few years." Danny didn't want to cry, she really didn't, and it was taking all of her effort not to do it now.

Paige smiled, leaning forward to trap her friend in another bone crushing hug, Danny returned it.

"I think you'll find it's me that owes you, idiot." Paige scoffed, squeezing her friend tight.

Another hour of idle conversation passed after that, a much lighter blanket settling over the two friends as they caught each other up on their lives.

Danny couldn't help but feel some type of way, all of her dreams were coming true, minus the psycho killer that she'd encountered twice now - things were looking up for her and Ben, or at least, that's what she held onto. Taking away all of the negative shit with Ushar and Armitage and sometimes even the other two boys, Danny was finding that she was happier, her art was taking off and her life was beginning to hold a solid shape for the first time ever. She only hoped that it would last.

Danny felt conflicted in the way that her life was moving forward, while Paige's had halted to a complete standstill, she was stuck in a rutt.

The girl was so bright and her future looked that way too, her and Danny were so similar in the way that they met, they only needed to pay off some of their student debt and then they'd be free. Paige was a college graduate and should have been looking forward to progressing further, now Danny could see that despite her false exterior - she was hurting.

She was hurting because she wasn't moving forward, her life had stalled and she thought there was nothing she could do it get it moving again.

Her assault had taken more of a toll on her then she let known, but Danny knew her better then that, it was clear that her fire was gone, snuffed out by Jake the night he took something that wasn't his to take.

The ashen blonde slapped her knees as she stood up, mocking a pain in her back as she cowled her spine backwards with a groan. "Where's your bathroom?" She asked, her eyes wondering as she did.

Paige looked up, "through the kitchen and to the left, small door next to the utility." She smiled.

Danny chimed a 'cheers' as she rounded the sofa and skipped on her way, beginning her search for said bathroom.

That left just Ben and Paige, sitting in silence as they listened to Danny's footsteps grow quieter and quieter. The man had no intention to speak, he didn't know what to say, it wasn't his place to speak.

He was surprised to hear the girl sat opposite him clear her throat, his jaw ticked slightly - his brows furrowed. "You must think I'm really rude." She said quietly, her eyes were cast low and on purpose.

Ben cocked his head just a tad, unsure of what Paige was even implying or referring to, but she spoke again before he could.

"She worships the ground you walk on ya'know." Paige laughed slightly, a smile peeling on one side of her face, "that girl never stops talking about you, she told me all about you the last time she was here, even though I'm pretty sure you weren't even talking back then." He kept his expression even, but he was certainly thinking back in his mind, attempting to put the timeline together in his head.

"She said you'd done something you weren't proud of and that you were confused, you pushed her away instead of letting her help - and even then, she still didn't have a bad word to say about you Ben."

It suddenly clicked in his head. That must have been the morning after she'd seen Jake, bloody and battered on his kitchen floor with part of his skull missing. The morning he'd raised a hand to her and screamed at her, so much so he forced her out of his home without her clothes and phone.

Definitely something he had nothing to be proud of.

He had no idea this is where she'd come, after everything, she made her way back to Paige.

The man fiddled with the handle of his cup, quickly sitting up straighter so he could place it down by his feet so he didn't end up breaking it.

"I learnt the hard way that's it's just better to let her in, she's done so much for me these last few months, I definitely owe her too." His tone was genuine, his eyes uncharacteristically gentle as he locked gazes with Paige. The girl smiled at him, "you're not half bad, treat her right and I might just let you live."

Paige had a playful edge to her voice, a raise of her brow signalling to Ben that maybe she wasn't joking.

He couldn't help but chuckle a little at that, "no promises, she steals my socks and that's an unforgivable crime."

This felt nice, it felt - normal. He wasn't looking over his shoulder or over analysing, Ben was just enjoying a tea and chat with his girl and her best friend. Putting a label of 'normal' on things had become a nasty habit of Ben's since he'd met Danny, it was simple-mundane things that were apart of daily life that had become new to him. He'd lived alone for so many years, it was strange to have a new body in the house at first, but as time went on - he found it strange to be alone again. It was normal for him to hear her brush her teeth in a morning while he rested just a few more minutes, it was normal for him to smell her strong fruit tea all the way from upstairs in his office as she brewed it in the kitchen...it had become his normal to fall asleep at night with Danny against his chest, to have her as close as possible, her chest in synch with his. Peaceful.

Danny stumbled back into the room, a crease in her brow as she pursed her lips in annoyance. "You could have told me that the door sticks before you let me go and get stuck in there." She hissed, kicking her friends knee weakly as she slumped back down onto the sofa. Her sour expression faded as she looked between both Ben and Paige, sheepish smiles painting both their faces. "Why are you both smiling like that?" She asked quizzically.

Neither of them answered her. Ben picked his mug of rancid tea back up from where it rested at his feet, pretending to slurp it down and act interested.

Paige just continued to look at Danny, sheepish smile intact as she remained silent.

"What did you say to him?" Danny squealed, pinging Paige's arm till the girl finally made a sound.

Ben chuckled and it caught both the girls attention fully, "talking about you, not to you, Kitten."

The ashen blonde's cheeks went pink at the mention of her pet name, her eyes darting between Paige and Ben as she tried to furrow through the embarrassment, unfortunately - her friend had already caught on, giggling and wiggling her eyebrows in Danny's direction to tease her.

"Fuck you both then!" She hissed, folding her arms and falling back against the couch like a sulking toddler. The other two shared a laugh, again the feeling of normal sitting pungent in the air, not a single sense of danger or dread lingering.

/

It was barely lit in his office, eerily dark and flittery.

The ageing man was hunched over his desk, his spine no doubt screaming in agony, he ignored it.

His voice was raspy and dry from a cocktail of tobacco and vodka, his choice of substances to numb the grief he was still feeling even so many months later.

"I suggest you get the job fucking done. I don't care about your excuses or bullshit, you got a hit on the big one and yet he still got away. I want to start seeing results before I snitch on your ass. Got it?" His tone was cutting, a condoning sneer lining it too.

He'd paused to let the person receiving his call answer him, "good. Now fuck off, chink."

He slammed his phone against his desk, not caring about doing damage to either. The old man held his face in his hands, a shake running through his limbs, no doubt the onset of Parkinson's taking hold of him.

His worried consumed him. He was going bankrupt because he wanted justice, he'd bribed detectives, bought newspaper columns...hired a hitman.

Would any of it bring his son back? No.

But he'd be damned if his son's killers didn't meet the same fait he had.

He was out for blood...and he'd fucking get it.

____________________________________

Good evening fuckers (•̀ᴗ•́)و

Just a lil AN from me at the end of this chapter to apologise for how jumpy and all over the place it is, a lot of it is just pure filler with added little details to ease the story along a little bit.

We're nearing the end and it makes me sad :(((

And also a PSA that the offensive slur used at the end of this chapter is disgusting and not cool, don't do it. That character is just a cunt and that's what cunts say.

Love you girls, gays and they's

N x


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